Winelovers River Night on 23 July in Budapest

Unlimited tasting for 4 hours, including a 2 hours’ river cruise with breath-taking sights all around with the top attraczions of Budapest. Don’t miss the 150 wines by 31 wineries, including the brand new Tornai sparkling wines made of the rare Csomorika grape, the new releases of Kancellár Estate, the creator of SomlAI, the “AI wine”, the best non-Austrian sparkling by Falstaff magazine: Etyeki Kúria Rose Brut (with 92 points).

Date and time: 23 July, 18.00–22.00
Venue: Europa Boat / Jégverem Street Port, Budapest, Hungary
Tickets: 19 900 HUF / person (until 22 July)
VIP tickets are available in limited number for 36 900 HUF, it includes dinner and extra samplings.
See all the exhibitors and get your ticket here

More about the new tradtiotional method sparkling wines made by Tornai Winery

New release by Tornai: Sparkling made of Csomorika

More about the international success of Kancellár SomlAI 2021

(Sold out, but the estate has many other great wines worth tasting)

Breaking news: the Best White Wine of CMB is Hungarian!

More about the recent debut of Etyeki Kúria traditional method sparkling wines

World sensation: sabrage with an airplane

A. Gere, Kancellár and Sauska will be there

The most vibrant wine thing today – this is the tasting, where participants can indulge themselves in unknown varieties, fruits of remote, historic terroirs, ancient cultures. From Armenia to Poland, CEE Wine fair showcases novelties even for the seasoned British wine trade. Regarding Hungary, A. Gere from Villány, Kancellár from Somló, Gilvesy from Badacsony, Sauska from Tokaj and Villány have already confirmed their participation along with a Szekszárd regional table. Save the date!

“There’s almost nowhere left in the wine world that hasn’t been fully discovered – apart from the heart of Europe. The central and eastern end of Europe, from the Danube to the Black Sea, is home to a long, authentic wine history; a myriad of unique grapes; amazing personal stories and many dynamic winemakers producing great wines in all sorts of styles.
The Ultimate Central & Eastern European Wine Fair aims to give buyers, merchants, distributors and writers the chance to discover why Central & Eastern European wines should be on the radar of anyone seeking the next big wine story.”

Experts about the 1st edition CEE Wine Fair

The wines from the cover photo

Gere Kopar 2021, Villány
More

Kancellár Nagy-Somlói Juhfark 2021, Somló
More

Sauska Furmint 2025, Tokaj
More

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR, CONTACT US!

Kancellár Estate, Somló: 7 gold out of 7 wines!

Mundus Vini Spring Tasting results are out. Unfortunately, the search field of the contest does not function well, we simply cannot find all the Hungarian results of the latest tasting, so we cannot share any statistics at the moment. We wrote to Mundus Vini tasting team, they replied, but their reply did not include the requested information. We wrote again, so far, we have not received any answer. If we get any list or the search field is fixed, we will update this article.
Bacground photo of the cover picture: Pexels / Monica Silvestre

Champion wine at champion price

What we can surely confirm – based on the information sent to the winery by Mundus Vini team –, Kancellár Estate from Somló entered 7 wines and received 7 gold medals. What is more, Olaszrizling 2022 has been selected the best Hungarian white wine. “Pale yellow, citrus colour. Lime blossom, citrus, and flint lead the nose. Light on the palate, medium-bodied, minerals and white fruits, with a fresh finish. Youthful and lively, yet complex and long-lasting, a well-balanced wine.” And it costs only 7-8 euros in retail! If interested, contact Gyula Bertalan, the export manager of the estate.

All the 7 gold winner Kancellár wines

Nagy-Somlói Magna Cuveé 2023
Szent Ilona Késői Szüretelésű Édes Fehérbor 2024
Nagy-Somlói Juhfark Prestige 2022
Juhfark 2022
Nagy-Somlói Olaszrizling Barrique 2023
Olaszrizling 2022
Irsai Olivér 2025

12 years, 22 hectares, countless medals

Kancellár Birtok is one of the youngest wineries in the Greater Somló wine region. Ferenc Horváth, Chancellor of the Somló and Environs Wine Route Association and Order of Wine Knights, together with his family members, launched the wine estate of Somló and its surroundings in 2014, which were then 11 hectares, now cultivating grapes on 22 hectares and producing characteristic wines from Somló. “Making Somló wine should only be done responsibly. We are committed to the place of production, the terroir. In addition to the geological, climatic and other conditions, we believe that terroir includes the respect and rich experience of the people who work here.”
The winery received the White Revelation trophy at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles last year! And it is just one of the many international acknowledgements.
More about Kancellár Estate

Kancellár Estate will exhibit at ProWein, find them at HALL 3 / C41. More information here.
6 Kancellár wines will be available to taste at Mundus Vini Tasting Zone at ProWein:

Kancellár Olaszrizling 2022 Best Of Show Hungary White
Kancellár Irsai Olivér 2025
Kancellár Juhfark 2022
Kancellár Nagy-Somlói Juhfark Prestige 2022
Kancellár Szent Ilona Late Harvest 2024
Kancellár Nagy-Somlói Magna Red Cuvée 2023

Wine Paris is over, we can start preparing for ProWein, the Düsseldorf wine expo, which awaits trade visitors with completely new visuals and several novelties to make business easier. The Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency will present 11 exhibitors.

Location: Hall 3 / C41
Exhibitors: Bock Winery (Villány), Heritage Wines – Cabolo, representing several wineries, among others Vesztergombi Cellar (Szekszárd), Csányi Winery – Teleki Wines (Villány), Kancellár Estate (Somló), Pannonhalma Archabbey (Pannonhalma), Sauska (Tokaj / Villány), Eurobor – Tűzkő Estate (Tolna), Grand Tokaj (Tokaj), Maison aux Pois (Tokaj), St Andrea (Eger), Törley Pezsgőpincészet (Sparkling Winery) (Etyek–Buda).

See them on ProWein website here

During the next weeks we will tell our readers more about the exhibiting wineries, come back soon!

Does it give you a boy?

Spoiler: no. The myth has been debunked. The wine of the indigenous grape of Juhfark from volcanic Somló does not give you a baby boy, but it gives you pleasure, so enjoy it, even today, on Valentine’s Day.
Background photo of the cover: Pexels / Foundertips
Author: Ágnes Németh

The following article of mine was written 10 years ago, I won Millesima Blog Awards in Wine Reporter category with this article in 2017, so it might be worth republishing it. The wines are different from the ones in th original article.

Make love and drink Juhfark – does it help if you want a baby boy?

Well, the first action definitely does. The most important indigenous grape variety of Hungary’s smallest wine region, the volcanic soiled Somló is said to have a positive effect on women who long for a son. The legend goes back to the XVIII. century, when Maria Theresa, Habsburg archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary ordered the young Habsburg archdukes to drink Juhfark wine from Somló on their wedding night so that they would have an heir as a fruit of the night. The argument was backed by the local observation, that four times more baby boys were born then girls around the hill of Somló.

Endre Czeizel, Hungary’s most famous geneticist, who has passed away recently, commented the belief. ‘Stomach is very far from the womb’ – said he undermining the myth immediately. The professor claimed that certain diets might influence the sex of the baby, but these researches still lack evidence, and some of them are too long and hard to keep. Intimate irrigation may have significant influence, however, if the irrigation liquid is acidic, it helps to find their way for X chromosomes, which are for girls, and alkaline environment helps Y chromosomes, and therefore the boys. The grape Juhfark is highly acidic, thus if it has an influence, it has a reverse one: it might enable women to give birth to girls! It is enough to look at Maria Theresia’s family: she had 16 children, and 11 of them were girls! The message of the story is that one should enjoy Juhfark for its own merit, not for family planning.

Juhfark takes its name from the sheep’s tail, as the long cylindrical shape of the bunches resemble the sheep’s tail. Juhfark has a rather neutral, restrained nose with some flowers and green apples. High, sometimes brutal acidity. It is really difficult to tame this variety, but there are amazing examples of it in history! If you are not afraid of straightforward acidity, take a chance on it. In Somló, the minerality paired with high acidity results some outstanding wines with great aging potential.

Corinthia Hotel Budapest

The largest, annual walk-around tasting of Winelovers team will take place at the glamorous Corinthia Hotel, as usual. The organisers promise to present wineries from each of the 22 Hungarian wine regions, the list of exhibitors is continuously updated.

Date and time: 21 March 2026, 12.00–21.00
Venue: Corinthia Hotel Budapest, Erzsébet krt.43–47, Budapest, Hungary
Early bird tickets (until 20 February): 14.900 HUF (instead of 20.900 HUF) / approximately 39 EUR instead of 55 EUR.
Purchase your ticket here (in Hungarian) or contact the organisers here

Some of the exhibitors (with bottles in our cover photo)

Bock Winery (Villány), Etyeki Kúria (Etyek), Fehérvári Wine Estate (Somló), Feind Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Gere A. Winery (Villány), Kancellár Wine Estate (Somló), Koch Winery (Hajós–Baja / Villány), Kúria Sopron (Sopron), Sauska (Villány and Tokaj), Thummerer Winery (Eger)

Somló

A young estate with huge impact

Kancellár Birtok is one of the youngest wineries in the Greater Somló wine region. Ferenc Horváth, Chancellor of the Somló and Environs Wine Route Association and Order of Wine Knights, together with his family members, launched the wine estate of Somló and its surroundings in 2014, which were then 11 hectares, now cultivating grapes on 22 hectares and producing characteristic wines from Somló. “Making Somló wine should only be done responsibly. We are committed to the place of production, the terroir. In addition to the geological, climatic and other conditions, we believe that terroir includes the respect and rich experience of the people who work here.”