Festive season in Villány

Villány Red Wine Festival is on 30 September – 2 October, a great opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of the harvest and taste the great red wines of Villány. Gere A. Winery with its Crocus Hotel and Mandula restaurant in the very centre of Villány is an ideal place to stay and discover the wine region.

Villány red Wine Festival attracts a great deal of visitors every year. Live music, wine tastings all over the town and challenges like “rolling a barrel”. The so called “harvest manifestation” is one of the most spectacular costume marches in the country (see photo below), it will take place at 2 pm on Saturday (1st October) and the march begins at the row of cellars.

Mandula restaurant is a peaceful oasis in the buzzing festival, a stylish place to sit for a prolonged lunch or a pampering dinner to put the crown on the day. If you cannot find available room at Crocus Hotel during the festival, do not worry, Villány is beautiful all the autumn. November, for example, another ideal month to visit and Crocus Hotel offers a special Saint Martin Day’s weekend package including Saint Martin’s degustation dinner with goose courses and wine pairing.

And if you just visit the restaurant and the hotel on an average weekday, the meals will make it a celebration. Some examples from the menu:
– duck liver, fennel, orange, onions
– mangalicza pork chop, forest mushrooms, noodles
– stuffed cabbage (suitable for vegetarians)
– saddle of veal, squash stew with dill, sour cream foam
– ekler donuts, vanilla, white chocolate
At Mandula you can find Gere wines which are hardly available anywhere, like Fekete Járdovány, a limited production red wine made from a rare grape saved by Gere A. Winery from extinction.
See the full menu here

The official program of the festival (in Hungarian, but google can help)

More about Gere Crocus Hotel

More about Mandula restaurant