7 Hungarian highlights

1054 wines from 17 countries were entered into the 27th edition of VinAgora international wine competition, held in Budapest, Hungary. Champion winners were announced in 8 categories this year, while 17 Grand Gold medals were awarded. A total of 220 wines received Gold medals, representing more than one-fifth of all entries, while 100 wines were awarded Silver medals. In addition, 315 wines received the Commended distinction.

Wines of our cover photo

– Vesztergombi Vintage 2021, Szekszárd – Grand Gold winner

This vintage has several vintages–since here Vintage is the name of the wine. It is a blend of five grapes: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Kékfrankos. The wine named Csaba also received gold medal.
VinAgora fact sheet
More about Vesztergombi Cellar

– Vylyan Sauvignon Blanc 2025, Villány – The Best Hungarian Sauvignon Blanc

It is the VERY FIRST Sauvignon Blanc of Vylyan, it has just debuted, and it costs only 2790 HUF / around 7.8 EUR on the webshop of the winery! Vylyan won 3 gold medals alogether at VinAgora.
VinAgora fact sheet
More about Vylyan Vineyard and Winery

– Frittmann Hajnal 2025, Kunság – gold medal

When an easy-going, affordable wine gets gold medal, there is hope for humanity. Yes, every-day, thirst quenching, charming wines can also be appreciated. This white blend costs only 1700 HUF / less than 5 EUR on the webshop of the winery!
VinAgora fact sheet
More about the wine

– Garamvári Mimi Blanc de Blancs brut NV, Balatonboglár – gold medal

Garamvári Vineyards is one of the most successful wineries of VinAgora–this year with 5 gold medals! Mimi is a special traditional method sparkling wine, actually, it is a love message made of Pinot Blanc…
VinAgora fact sheet
More about Garamvári Vineyard

Natural, organic and biodynamic wines

Confetti claims to be the largest natural wine festival in Poland, but actually it is one of the largest in Europe for sure with more than 100 wineries from 16 countries, including Hungary. Csetvei Cellar (Mór / Somló) and Kristinus (South Balaton) will also be present at the 6th edition of Confetti. The event looks so awesome, that it might be worth converting to organic to be able to participate!

“Being precise does not mean standardizing” – it is an important sentence from Mirtha, an Italian winemaker. She means that natural wines are not accepted to be unclean, the era of the “funky” wines is over, natural wine lovers want great terroir wines without faults. You can listen to Mirtha and others talk about “that cool thing in wine that everybody loves and she does not” here, within the Confetti Questionnaire.

Date and time: 19 Apr 2026, 12.00–19.00 (from 12.00 for trade members and from 14.00 for all guests). There is an afterparty from 19.00 to 22.00!
Venue: Stara Zajezdnia, Św. Wawrzyńca 12, 31-060 Kraków, Poland
Tickets: trade: 129 PLN / person (approximately 30 EUR), 199 PLN / person (approximately 47 EUR)
More information

The wines from our cover photo

Csetvei Juhfark 2024, Somló

Csetvei Cellar is located in Mór wine region, but they own a vineyard in the volcanic Somló wine region as well. This wine is made of Juhfark, the emblematic grape of Somló. Gentle pressing, spontaneous fermentation on the skins, aged in stone clay amphora, unclarified, unfiltered, bottled without adding sulphur. Spiciness and dried southern fruits, raisins in the sip. A total of 340 bottles were made.
More about Csetvei Cellar

Kristinus Liquid Sundwoner 2022, Balatonboglár

An orange wine made of 40% Gewürztraminer, 20% Pinot Gris, 20% Welschriesling and 20% Chardonnay. Fermented spontaneously, long skin contact (30–90 days), aged in several vessels: amphora, used oak barrel, stainless steel. Unclarified, unfiltered, bottled with a small amount of sulphur (33 mg/L). “Sundowner means a drink that you enjoy in the late afternoon, around those few minutes when the sun disappears behind the horizon – a feeling that reminds us of this complex and structured orange wine.” (Movin Agency)

More about Kristinus

Importer of the Month: PaTrioVin, Denmark

Based on the company’s name, I had imagined an older Hungarian expatriate behind the Danish import firm and wine merchant PaTrioVin—and how wrong I was! A young woman, Patrícia, wrote back; she runs the business with her husband, and they represent wines from six Hungarian wine regions with tremendous enthusiasm and energy.
Author: Ágnes Németh
Photos: PaTrioVin

Wineries represented: Bock Winery (Villány), Dúzsi Family Winery (Szekszárd), Feind Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Gróf Degenfeld (Tokaj), Kovács Nimród Winery (Eger). (Konyári wines and Etyeki Kúria wines are not currently available in the online store.)

PaTrioVin
Olesvej 354040 Jyllinge, Dánia
patriovin.dk
info@patriovin.dk

It’s much more than a hobby—it’s a true passion

“Delicious food, a friendly atmosphere, a pleasant ambiance, and best of all: excellent wines. I was very pleasantly surprised. Patrícia is a wonderful host who knows a great deal about Hungarian wines”—this is just one of the positive reviews on the website, and speaking with Patrícia on the phone, it quickly becomes clear that there are plenty of opportunities to meet her; she’s constantly either before or after tastings. When we spoke, she had just finished a Bock masterclass, and Dániel Konyári had already arrived from Lake Balaton—naturally, for another tasting. Of course, I’m curious to know if they run the wine business full-time.
“It’s more than just a hobby for us, but it’s not a full-time job; we’re not yet at the point where we can make a living from it, and it would also be risky because of our children,” says Patrícia, who currently works at an acoustics company.

Subtle white wines from Lake Balaton, bottle fermented sparkling made of Furmint, single vineyard Kékfrankos wines – Homola wines are more than worth trying. They are available in several countries, but the best experience undoubtedly awaits at their estate overlooking the lake. The season has started, Homola Wine Terrace is already open on Saturdays!

Pennsylvania – in 65 stores

“Google is your friend” – people open say, well, if you are a wine enthusiast, then “Wine Searcher is your friend”. It tells you where you can get your favourite Hungarian wine. In the US Homola wines are available thanks to two guys owning Credo Imports. They work hard to spread the word about Hungarian wines, and they spread the wines as well, quite efficiently. A partner of them, Fine Wine & Good Spirits sells Homola 100% Balaton white blend in 65 stores and online.
Homola 100% Balaton 2024 is made of local varieties: Tramini, Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Olaszrizling, and Sárgamuskotály from loess soil. A captivating fruit-forward blend with vibrant tropical fruit flavours with a subtle touch of saltiness, complemented by a crisp, fresh acidity.

In the lively city of Berlin

Berlin is one of the hottest cities of Europe, a must-go destination with vibrant cultural life and nigh life as well. Máté and Gábor, two Hungarian guys founded BorStore (bor = wine) in 2015, and they offer a wide selection of Hungarian wines from more than 50 wineries. From Homola they sell 6 wines, including Homola Cuvée Me 2024, a blend of Olaszrizling, Riesling, and Furmint. “It is made primarily from grapes from different parts of Paloznak, where the soil is mainly red sandstone and marga, typical of the region. Since 2023, the vineyards are under conversion to organic farming, and the harvest is done by hand. The wine was fermented spontaneously, the ageing is done partly in barrels, partly in stainless steel tanks. Everything that Cuvée Me contains is the pure essence of our terroir.”

Vibes of the vineyard – Paloznak

Homola is located in the village of Paloznak, near Balatonfüred, the capital of Lake Balaton district. The estate is a buzzing venue of events with music of different genres, with Paloznak Jazz Picnic in August being the most important, featuring renowned performers from all over the world. DJ sessions are also frequent, the first one is held on 28 March. The wine terrace has opened today, in March it welcomes wine lovers every Saturday. Do not miss the sparkling Furmint of the estate, new vintages are coming soon!

If you are interested in importing Homola wines, contact Zsombor Gál export manager.

More about Homola Winery and Wine Terrace

15th edition at New York Palace

At the jubilee edition 42 wineries will pour their wines from the volcanic Badacsony wine region, plus as a result of a new partnership between Badacsony and Wachau, 10 guest producers from the Austrian wine region will also participate. Entrance for members of the trade is free, but registration is necessary.

Date and time: 11 April 2026, 14.30–17.00 trade tasting, 15.00–20.00 consumers’ tasting
Venue: Anantara New York Palace Hotel, Budapest, Erzsébet krt. 9, 1073 Hungary
Tickets for consumers: purchased in advance: 14.900 HUV, at the venue: 19 900 HUF
Student discount: 2000 HUF off.
A masterclass will be held with wines of Badacsony and Wachau by Dr. András Csizmadia and Sándor Németi wine experts. To participate in the masterclass a special, combined ticket is needed: 29 000 HUF (purchased in advance). Wine bites will be paired made by András Wolf chef (New York Café).
Registration for trade members and ordering tickets: badacsonynewyorkban@gmail.com, telephone: +36 87 531 013
Tasting glass: available to rent, cash is needed.
Food will be available to purchase at some exhibitors.
Facebook page of the event
Exhibitors below the photos

There is a big boom of sparkling wines in Hungary, and traditional method bubblies made of native grapes are abundant, as Sarah March MW has written brilliantly in her recent comprehensive article. At Wine Paris participants can taste with Patrick Schmitt MW, the editor-in-chief of The Drinks Business.

Location: Wines of Hungary stand Hall 4 | B 135 & 153
Time: 9 February 2026, 10.00–10.30
Register here

Garamvári Lellei Furmint 2019, one of the stars of the tasting

Vencel Garamvári, founder of Garamvári Vineyard was the first to use Furmint variety for method traditional sparkling wine – the grapes came from Tokaj. A few years ago, Garamvári was a pioneer again to release the first bottle fermented Furmint sparkling wine from Balatonboglár wine region, from the south shore of Lake Balaton. The sparkling wine won gold medal at VinAgora international wine contest in 2023, and it was selected the Best Sparkling Wine of Balatonin 2024. The wine spent 32 months on the lees and it has a dosage of 7 g/l. Only 6686 bottles were made, the indicative price is 18.16 EUR.

More about Garamvári Vineyard

A recent article about a unique project of Garamvári Vineyard

BESPOKE – make your own sparkling wine!

35 Hungarian exhibitors at Wine Paris

35 exhibitors, but it means at least 50 wineries, since there are several associations among the exhibitors. Wines of Hungary, the official wine marketing body itself organises the pavilion of most of the exhibitors, and they will be present personally as well.
Date and time: 9–11 February 2026), open from 9 am to 7 pm on Monday and Tuesday, and closes at 5 pm on Wednesday, on the last day.
Venue: Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles 75015. Easy to access by tram or metro (fast and cheap).
Tickets: Media representatives can apply for free media pass. Buyers or other professionals can get invitations with free pass from exhibitors. In other cases, visitors can simply buy tickets, now 80 EUR / person / 3 days.
More about Wine Paris
Some of the Hungarian exhibitors:

Bock (Villány), Dereszla (Tokaj), Etyeki Kúria (Etyek, with Fine Wine Association of Hungary), Garamvári (Balatonlelle), Holdvölgy (Tokaj), Homola (Balatonfüred, with Fine Wine Association of Hungary), Patricius (Tokaj), Sauska (Villány and Tokaj), Tornai (Somló), Tóth Ferenc (Eger, with Fine Wine Association of Hungary), Tűzkő (Tolna)

To see all Hungarian exhibitors click here
More information about the wineries who exhibit with Wines of Hungary

“…eclectic but increasingly exciting”

10 great wines to remember #9

Lake Balaton is a sea of white wines, mainly Olaszrizling (the grape of BalatonBor community wine), yet Homola Winery has proved that Kékfrankos black grape has a role around the lake. They make a whole range of Kékfrankos wines, and probably this single vineyard wine from the stunning Tihany peninsula is the most peculiar. No wonder JamesSuckling.com taster Andrii Stetsiuk had a crush on it!

Charming and elegant – Homola Tihany Kékfrankos 2019

“Among the Balaton reds, kekfrankos really shined, especially the offerings from the Homola winery, which come with a very transparent, terroir-driven character.” – commented Andrii Stetsiuk in his wine report. This unfiltered Kékfrankos is the fruit of a 30-year-old vineyard in Tihany Peninsula on the shore of Lake Balaton. A real volcanic wine as here the soils are mainly composed of basaltic tuff. The wine was fermented spontaneously in open-vats and aged in large barrels for 24 months. The result is a handcrafted charming and complex red wine with elegant acidity and a long finish.
Retail price in Hungary is around 15-17 EUR.
More about this wine
More about Homola Winery

Meet Homola team and taste Homola wines at Wine Paris on 9–11 February! Visit Wines of Hungary in Hall 4 at B153 at the fair and look for the Fine Wines Association of Hungary, including Homola Winery.

10 great wines to remember #7

This frost resistant grape – hence the name meaning “wintry” or “relating to winter” – was created in Germany, yet hardly any Hibernal wines are made there (only 3 hectares). In Hungary there are 14 hectares, but only 4.7 hectares are producing grape yet. Feind Winery on the north shore of Lake Balaton makes refreshing, citrusy, vibrant wines of the variety. It has a superb price!
For more information about Hibernal variety scroll down.

Feind Hibernál 2024

The Balaton winery uses the Hungarian spelling with an accent on the ‘a’. The wine has medium intense lemon colour. The nose reveals refreshing notes of citrus fruits, green spices, freshly cut grass and ripened pear. Vibrant, crispy mouthfeel due to the intense acidity. Uplifting and refreshing. Complex palate with round body balancing the acidity. There is a hint of phenolic character as well. Decent length. Also ideal as a “spritz” – with bubbly water. The winery recommends to pair it with lighter fish and poultry dishes. On the winery webshop the retail price is only 2790 HUF / around 7 EUR.

More about Feind Winery

Feind wines are available in several countries, for example in the USA by Credo Imports. If you are interested in importing Feind wines, contact Andrea Sajó of Feind Winery.

Feind wine bar – the first stop to Lake Balaton

Find winery is located at the east corner of Budapest, in Balatonfőkajár, which means that this estate is the first one if you are driving from Budapest (92 km). At Feind wine store the whole range of Feind wines is available, while in the wine bar guests can taste the wines with cheese or ham platters. The wine bar can seat 40 people ideal for smaller events, gatherings. From spring to autumn, the terrace is also available. Guests are welcome to taste wines and enjoy the atmosphere without prior reservation.

More info here

Interesting facts about Hibernal

– It is a hybrid, which means that the grape contains DNA not only from Vitis Vinifera, both from other species as well (Vitis Vinifera is the species where most well-known varieties belong from Chardonnay to Zinfandel.
– It was created in 1944 by Heinrich Birk at Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute, Germany.
– Hibernal (or Hybernal) is a new cross, here are the parents: (Seibel 7053 = Chancellor x Riesling) x (Seibel 7053 x Riesling).
– The most significant amount is grown in the Czech Republic (421 hectares).
– It has good winter-frost resistance and reasonably good resistance to powdery and downy mildews. Sugar level and yield are generally higher than for Riesling but acidity is lower. Ripens in the first half of October.
– There is a small amount (1 hectare) in Canada.
– “Wines are fresh and fruity, in some years rather like Scheurebe, and the fruit purity and high levels of extract of the best, fully ripe examples reveal its Riesling parent. When unripe, it can have a slightly foxy note but this is not usually pronounced. Owing to its complex family history, it is not 100% Vitis Vinifera but it is registered as such in the German official list of varieties and is therefore authorized for making quality winebecause the wine generally tastes like a Vinifera product.”

Excerpt From: Robinson, Jancis; Harding, Julia; Vouillamoz, Jose. “Wine Grapes (9780062325518)”. Apple Books.

The first stop to Balaton

Balaton, the largest lake of Central Europe offers attractive programmes all year long, and the Advent Artisan Fair on 13 December is a good example. Visit Feind Winery, stroll among the vendors and don’t be afraid of the cold–there will be hot drinks available. Mulled wine, of course, by Feind, of course. It is also worth staying for the night, because on Sunday a so called “Light Parade” will take place in the village.

Date and time of the fair: 13 December 2025, from 14.00
Venue: Feind Winery, Balatonfőkajár (less than an hour’s drive from Budapest on M7)
What to buy: craft food products, like honey, jam, pickles, fruit juices, cheeses and also hand-made gifts like jewellery, candles and many more.
Date and time of the Light Parade: 14 December 2025, from 16.00
Want to join? You can, bring your vehicle lit and join the parade!

Feind wine bar – the first stop to Lake Balaton

Find winery is located at the east corner of Budapest, in Balatonfőkajár, which means that this estate is the first one if you are driving from Budapest (92 km). At Feind wine store the whole range of Feind wines is available, while in the wine bar guests can taste the wines with cheese or ham platters. The wine bar can seat 40 people ideal for smaller events, gatherings. From spring to autumn, the terrace is also available. Guests are welcome to taste wines and enjoy the atmosphere without prior reservation.

More info here

Read about JamesSucklings.com praising Feind Chardonnay Batonnage

Hungarian „Wine Crush” of jamessuckling.com