Hungarian wines by Credo Imports in three more states of the US

My dear aunt and dear cousins in Colorado, do you remember the days we spent at Lake Balaton? Now you can recall the good memories with some Balaton wines! Homola and Feind are two Balaton wineries, their wines along with other Hungarian wines are now available in three more states: Colorado, Georgia and Virginia. Credo Imports works with various local partners across these states, so look for Hungarian wines all around!
By Ágnes Németh

 

“Credo Imports has been busy expanding our presence in the US markets and have secured three new distribution states: Colorado, Georgia, and Virginia. This brings our total to New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, and Utah, with plans to expand into Illinois and Michigan soon. These three new states will carry Hungarian wines, and we are excited to continue sharing our portfolio from Hungary, Germany, Austria, and elsewhere. Our commitment to advocating for Hungarian wines has truly paid off in opening these new markets.” – commented Daniel Satola, co-owner of Credo Imports.

Homola 100% Balaton – a white blend of the lake

“A captivating fruit-forward blend from the Balaton Wine Region, featuring aromatic, local varieties: Tramini, Szürkebarát, Olaszrizling, and Sárgamuskotály. This wine showcases vibrant tropical fruit flavors with a subtle touch of saltiness, complemented by a crisp, fresh acidity.”
This wine aims to feature the most typical grapes of Balaton wine region. If I allowed some personal touch in the lead, let me go on: in my childhood summer was equal to Balaton, we spent many weekends on the north shore at different villages. I remember how cheerful my parents were at the end of a beach day, at a wine rustic wine bar of the times, drinking Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris) or Tramini (Traminer), two grapes of Homola 100% Balaton blend. This wine recalls good memories of that era, with the merits of modern technology and much more care and attention in the vineyard.

See the wine on Credo Imports website

More about Homola Winery

Feind Play Rose – bubbly refreshment

” After the popularity of our white sparkling wine we decided to make our first sparkling rose. It is fresh and fruity, everything we dreamed of. Perfect as an aperitif and as a summer’s day refreshment.”
Though Balaton is all about white wines, some wineries insist on cultivating black grapes as well, a Feind is one of them. Their Syrah is undoubtedly one of the best in the country, and this rosé also proves the relevance of black grapes around the largest lake of Central and Eastern Europe. Feind Play Rose is made of Kékfrankos and Zweigelt, and it is aerated, to make it more refreshing. Feind Winery is the “first stop” if you are driving from Budapest, with a wine bar and wine shop – a must stop indeed!

See the wine on Credo Imports website

More about Feind Winery

More about Credo Imports

Our earlier interview with Credo Imports owners

Credo Imports launches Vylyan, Lajver and Feind wines in the USA

Upgrade: Taschner Chardonnay in Hévíz, at the largest natural lake of the world

Albino Perle tells you immediately what it is: ‘albino’, so white made of black grape, and ‘perle’, a wine with bubbles. Easy going and fun, perfect with our chicken dish, which is so easy to make. And if you want a “royal upgrade”, visit Hévíz, the largest natural lake of the world, and enjoy a traditional method Chardonnay sparkling wine from the same Sopron producer, Kurt István Taschner.
For the recipe of the chicken & pistachio, scroll down.

 

Taschner Albino Perle is an aerated sparkling wine made of 100% Cabernet Franc, it has intense, juicy aromas and flavours of yellow fruits, and it costs only 1950 HUF (around 5.40 EUR) on the webshop of the winery!
Taschner Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs 2023 has won two gold medals at Berliner Wine Trophy with its layered, complex aromas, creamy bubbles and matured, toasty notes. The sparkling wine is available at many restaurants, among others at Liget Royal restaurant in the town of Hévíz. The renovated restaurant offers traditional Hungarian dishes and has a good selection of Hungarian wines.
More about Liget Royal restaurant
More about Taschner Winery and Sparkling Wine Cellar

Did you know, that the little town of Hévíz boasts the largest natural thermal lake in the world?

– The 4.6-hectare, 46,350m2 to be exact, 38.5-meter-deep lake is fed by a spring containing sulphur, radium, and minerals, and thanks to its abundant water flow, the water is completely replaced within 72 hours.
– The water of Lake Hévíz is equally rich in dissolved and gaseous substances, combining the beneficial properties of carbonated, sulphurous, calcium, magnesium, and hydrogen carbonate medicinal waters.
– The lake’s water surface could accommodate up to 6 and a half football fields. The water flow from its spring is approximately 410 litres per second.
Fun fact: In 1914, Nelly, the elephant was transferred from the Budapest Zoo to cure her leg ache.
Read more about Lake Hévíz

Chicken & pistachio

Pistachios are a trendy nut these days, and they also go well with chicken, making it even more crispy.
– Heat a little butter mixed with a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry a few chicken breast pieces.
– When they are golden brown, remove them from the pan, place them in an ovenproof dish, add a little cream, grated cheese and sprinkle with crushed pistachios.
– Put the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes.
– Meanwhile, put some peeled and sliced ​​apples in the same pan, caramelize them, add a little champagne and cook until soft. Season with salt, pepper and freshly ground ginger.
– Garnish the chicken with the ginger apples.

Some more articles about Taschner wines

Twice as faithful – Taschner Fidelissima Cuvées from Sopron

“Wine course” in Sopron any time with Kurt István Taschner

Getting high in Sopron

The French châteaux are majestic, the Spanish bodegas are romantic, while the Hungarian underground cellar labyrinths tell tales about history. What’s more, they are really nice places to hang around during heatwaves. Let us invite you to 7 stunning Hungarian cellars, where – besides high quality, gorgeous wines – you can see wonders underground.

 

Chic in the cellar – Kovács Nimród Winery, Eger

“Carved in stone and elegantly furnished, our facility will meet the highest expectations of our most discerning visitors.”And it is true, proved among others by 5.0 evaluation on Tripadvisor. The winery is located in the historic Verőszala street, which is actually a line of cellars in the outskirts of Eger, the most visited city after Budapest in Hungary. The estate offers 5 different tastings from 5600 HUF to 19 500 HUF / person, and can accept up to 80 people. And even a stylish wine dinner is available, as it is featured in the second photo.

More about the winery visit
Contact

Koch Winery, Hajós–Baja wine region

There is nothing more “insider” for a wine enthusiast, than a deep immersion in the harvest process. Koch Winery (Winery of the Year 2014 and Winemaker of the Year 2019) offers a complex harvest day full of wine and games on 5 September, and the programme is available with accommodation and Budapest bus transfer as well. The two hostesses are Pálma Koch, the founder, Csaba Koch’s daughter and Nati, a Hungarian wine influencer.

The land of happy grapes

Koch Winery is the home of “happy grapes”, since the founder, Csaba Koch uses special canopy techniques to make the vineyard as happy as can be. „The key is that we do not restrict the grapegrowing. We create big but airy leafage, which significantly triggers the photosynthesising capability of the vine-plant, and (boosts) the quality of the grape and wine.”

Koch & Nati Harvest Experience 2026

Make your own wine this year at Koch Winery and immerse yourself in the exciting world of winemaking – from the grape to the bottle! Experience harvest with Pálma Koch and Nati the winemaker this September in Hajós-Baja wine region. Don’t just taste the wine – make it yourself!
Hand-picked and selected grapes, a real experience where YOU experience what a real harvest is like! Of course, music will be playing all the time, and cold spritzers will refresh you between the rows of grapes.
Date: 5 September 2026
Location: Koch Winery (Borota)

Tickets and packages

– You can register for the program with a harvest day ticket without accommodation, it includes the whole day event with wine and food (see detailed programme below).
Price: 35 000 HUF

– The accommodation packages are based on double rooms at the Koch Panzió. Couples and guests arriving together should book in advance, as accommodation places are filled in the order of bookings.
Price for two people: 135 000 HUF
More about the rooms

– The bus departing from Budapest will take guests to Borota in the morning and return to Budapest in the evening. We can provide space for a maximum of 8 people on the bus.
Bus ticket: 5000 HUF / person

Get your ticket here (in Hungarian, but google can help)
You can also contact Pálma Koch here

Detailed programme

Saturday, 5 September

8:30–9:00 Coffée together, juice and snacks at Koch Wine&Coffee
9:00–13:00 Harvest by hand
13:00–14:00 Lunch and coffée
14:00–16:00 Grape processing with a grape crusher and with a more than 100-year-old basket press
16:00–17:00 Siesta, chill, pool time
17:00–19:00 Cellar tour and wine tasting
19:00–20:00 Dinner
20:00–22:00 Wine quiz and games with surprise prizes

Sunday, 6 September (for those, who stay)

8:00–8:30 Coffée together at Koch Wine&Coffee
8:30–9:30 Yoga in the vineyard
9:30–10:30 Breakfast and saying goodbye

Besides the prizes mentioned in the lead, Koch Winery was selected “The Most Beautiful Vineyard” in 2025

The Most Beautiful Wine Estates of Hungary announced

An organic wine by Koch

Have you heard of Castellum grape variety?

 

…and some statistics from Decanter World Wine Award

Among the Central Eastern European countries, it was Croatia, that gained the most medals (412) at the latest edition of DWWA (results announced a month ago), including 34 gold medals. With over all medals Slovenia is the second (202) and Serbia is the third (146), however, in terms of gold medals, Hungary and Austria are the 2nd with 15-15 gold medals and 144 medals over all. Tóth Ferenc Várvédő Egri Bikavér is one of the Hungarian medal winners – congratulations to all of our producers!

Country                       All medals       Gold medals
Austria                                    144                  15
Bulgaria                                   51                     5
Croatia                                    412                  34
Bosnia& Herzegovina              45                     5
Czech Republic                       81                     6
Hungary                                 144                   15
Kosovo                                     1                       0
Moldova                                   97                     6
Montenegro                             17                     2
Poland                                      6                      0
Romania                                 112                    8
Serbia                                     146                    7
Slovakia                                  10                      0
Slovenia                                  202                  12
Ukraine                                    73                     0

See all Decanter results here

Tóth Ferenc Várvédő Egri Bikavér Sík-Hegy-dűlő, 2022

Egri Bikavér is the flagship red blend of Eger wine region. Read the regulation here. Tóth Ferenc Várvédő Bikavér is made of 36% Kékfrankos, 33% Cabernet Franc, and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Syrah.
Decanter tasting note:
“Refined and elegant style, with aromas of black and red berries, vanilla and violets. Spicy palate.” 87 points, bronze medal
How was it made
The different grape varieties were harvested separately at their ripening times. Fermentation took place in a mixture of steel tanks and, due to the low yields, in smaller quantities in vats. After fermentation and malolactic fermentation, ageing took place in younger and completely new Hungarian and French oak barrels with capacities of 500 and 225 liters. After two years, the team decided on the final blend, then left the wine to rest in stainless steel tanks for a few months before bottling.
Food pairings
Roast beef, game dishes, smoked cheese and roast lamb.
More about the wine and the winery
See Decanter fact sheet

Tóth Ferenc Winery loves Kadarka grape a lot!

Every Friday is Kadarka Friday – especially next Friday in Eger

Another article about the winery and Kadarka grape

The secrets of a defiant yet wonderful variety

Decanter gold medal for Kővilla Syrah 2024 Villány

Every gentleman is happy to hear the expression in the title, but a winemaker is even happier, reading it on the website of Decanter World Wine Awards. The annual grandiose wine competition results were published a month ago, but we still have some great acknowledgements to publish – like the gold medal and 95 points for this Syrah from Villány wine region. Hungary received 15 gold medals and 144 medals altogether.

Decanter tasting notes:

“Spicy blackcurrant, smoky blueberry and damson are lent extra complexity with violet florals and a minty zing. Fulsome and firm, concentrated and impressively long.”
See full Decanter fact sheet of the wine
Csányi Winery, the producer of Kővilla Syrah won a bronze medal (87 points) as well with Teleki Inspiráció Bio Villányi Franc 2023.

Syrah from the “Valley of Tears”

The story of Jammertal
This famous grapegrowing place presumably got its name after the Battle of Szársomlyó in 1687. According to legend, even weeks after the imperial army’s victory, the cries of the wounded Turks could still be heard echoing from the mountains (Jammertal is a German / Swabian word meaning Valley of Tears). Teleki cultivates 9 hectares of Syrah here with medium high cordon training, 5,435 vines per hectare. Additionally, there are 5 hectares of Merlot with Single Guyot training system, 5,435 vines per hectare.

How was Kővilla Syrah made?
The harvest took place on 4 September, 2024. The controlled fermentation in Ganimade-type tank took place within 16 days with punching over three times a day. After pressing, malolactic fermentation took place in stainless steel tank, and then the wine was racked into new 300-litre oak barrels for 12 months.

Food pairings: Beef stew with red wine garnished with dumplings with sheep cheese, lamb stew, Hungarian layered cabbage casserole, lamb rib seasoned with rosemary, beef cheek confit, matured cheeses.

More about Teleki wines

Alberta loves Furmint and Kadarka!

Christina Masciangelo, the owner of Salivate Wine Consulting imports Zsirai (Tokaj) and Heimann (Szekszárd) wines to Alberta, Canada with success – so far she has ordered 36 pallets between the two wineries! Her interest for Hungarian wine was sparked by a friend, who had visited our Hungarian Gettogether event earlier, so we are part of this success story, and we are so happy about it! Read our interview with Christina.

More about Salivate Wine Consulting here

– How did you get close to the world of wines?
– I started working in restaurants when I was 19 years old, which is where my interest in wine was sparked. In 1994, I worked at my first wine shop, where my interest greatly increased. I subsequently worked at a few different wine shops, where I met the agents on the wholesale side, and immediately knew I had to work in wholesale, closer to the wineries and winemakers.

– What brought you to the Austrian wines?
– In the early 2000’s, my husband at the time, was travelling a lot to the US for work. I would ask him to go to wine shops and bring back a few wines to try. One trip he came home with a Grüner Veltliner and I was hooked!  Around the same time, I was attending annual Society of Wine Educators conferences and attended some Austrian tastings with Terry Theise, a wine importer with Skurnik. I became obsessed with Austrian wine and Terry became one of my wine heroes.

– You have a nice selection of Austrian wines, so how did it occur to you to enrich your group of suppliers with Hungarian wineries?
– I started my wine import company in 2016 with six Austrian wineries, knowing I would diversify within a short time. I wanted to add unique wines to my portfolio that had a greater opportunity in the market.  In 2018 I came across the Hungarian Gettogether wine event and was curious to learn more about Hungarian wines. It didn’t work out for me to attend that year, but the following year a friend of mine attended and raved about her experience. She connected me with Zsirai Winery, and we started communicating in late 2019. I placed my first order in 2020. Salivate was the first importer in North America for Zsirai!

Look at the cover photo, it features a lively festival, doesn’t it? Can you imagine that this festival is organised by only one winery? Farkasmály, the location of Dominium Winery is a charming village, and it hosts an annual wine festival now for the 5th time.

 

What happens: it is a small scale, relaxed, friendly wine event with live music, local wines. Cellar visits are also carried on in the historic cellars. The brain behind the event, Dániel Orbán, the owner of Dominium Winery speaks good English, but it is required to contact him in advance to organize a cellar tour in English.
Contact Dániel Orbán here.
Entrance ticket: 5000 HUF / day (13.8 EUR) or 8000 HUF / 2 days (22 EUR). Tickets are to be bought on the spot.
Getting there: The village of Farkasmály is only 2 km from the town of Gyöngyös and 3 km from Mátrafüred. You can ride a bike on the bike route or take a taxi, but you can walk as well. The town of Gyöngyös is only one hour’s drive on motorway M3 or 1.5 hours by train from Keleti railway station.
Food will be provided by Banditos Pizza Napoletana.
Accommodation: The organizer Dominium Winery has 8 stunning guests rooms, it is definitely the most comfortable option.
The website of the event (in Hungarian, but Google can help)

A recent success of Dominium Winery

Dominium Feketelányka – gold again!

More than 30 wineries – and a lot of sparklings!

The Nagyerdő (‘Great Forest’ city park) is always atmospheric, but it is best on summer evenings, with great music and a glass in hand. For three days, performers will pass the microphone to each other on three stages, and the exhibitors will constantly offer their wines. Among them will be Béres Vineyard from Tokaj, Bock Winery from Villány, Garamvári Vineyard from Balaton, Steigler Cellar from Sopron, Thummerer Winery from Eger and the Tornai Winery from Somló – they all have sparkling wines to sparkle the summer nights!

Did you know, that Debrecen is the 2nd largest city of Hungary?

Visit Debrecen, enjoy the zoo and the museums, the vibrant squares and parks.
Discover Debrecen – more information here

Date and time: 6–8 August 2026, evenings (from about 5 pm)
Venue: Nagyerdő (‘Great Forest’), Debrecen
Tickets: An entrance ticket is required for the event, which costs 5,000 HUF / person on Thursday, 6,000 HUF on Friday and Saturday, and a three-day pass is 13,000 HUF. Admission is free for children under 12.
Wines must be paid for at the exhibitors.
More information

Wineries mentioned in the introduction

Béres Winery

Bock Estate

Garamvári Vineyard

Steigler Cellar

Thummerer Winery

Tornai Winery

Savages y Suefo is one of the many bands to play, listen to them here:

Béres Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos 2017

The great success of this wine from Decanter World Wine Award is still hot: Béres has won one of the 8 Hungarian Platinum awards with 97 points! And now another great acknowledgment has been gained: Béres Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos 2017 received grand gold and has been selected the Best Foreign Wine at the 30th Catad’Or international wine contest of Chile.

“Gloriously rich”

Decanter review of the wine:
“A splurge of confit citrus unlocks kumquat, saffron and curry leaf aromas in tandem. Gloriously rich and rounded with a feverish acidity piercing the decadent sweetness and parading showstopping freshness towards the irresistibly long finish.”
See full Decanter fact sheet here

Fun fact: the same wine won DWWA Platinum last year as well. It is a wine worth stocking, isn’t it?

How was it made?

“Individually handpicked and selected Hárslevelű and Furmint aszú grapes were soaked in clean, fermenting 100% Furmint base wine overnight. The aim of soaking is to enrich the material to be pressed with the alcohol and carbon dioxide produced during the onset of fermentation. This Aszú was aged for 36 months in Szerednye-type, Zemplén oak barrels, then bottled.” This aszú has a massive 171.1 g/L residual sugar, however, it is brilliantly balanced by the 11.1 g/L acidity.
More about this wine

The laziest – and lavishest – food pairing: enjoy by itself

Noble sweet wines have a serious enemy: the diet. And indeed, it contains a significant amount of calories, especially if you pair it with a dessert. The solution is to REPLACE the dessert by Tokaji Aszú, and enjoy it slowly, because you deserve it.