„I would love to be a Knight of Tokaj” – says Jeff Jenssen from Wine Enthusiast

Two weeks ago I participated in Concours du Mondial wine contest in Valladolid, Spain as a judge. One day I happened to have lunch with two great American guys, who greeted me with a big smile on their faces when I introduced myself as a Hungarian.

A page full of Furmint!

Beata Keszler (owner of Ungaricum wine shop and digital wine media wexpert with her husband, Zsolt in Germany) told me that she had learned the previous year from Jeff, one of the two guys that he had Hungarian forefathers and he would love to become a Knight of Tokaj wine order (Confrérie de Tokaj). Well, I am a member, in fact… I remember when I was knighted, I had promised to promote Tokaj all of my life. Well, Jeff does so, even without being knighted!

During the lunch he handed a copy of the latest issue of Wine Enthusiast wine magazine, which „accidentally” laid on the table. He showed me a page proudly full of Furmint wines!

The wines have proved to be great!

I was first sceptical to see the page, I thought it was a paid promotion (which is useful as well, of course, but an unpaid editorial is always more valuable). But Jeff assured me that the page was purely editorial content. „I am the person at Wine Enthusiast to taste wines from Central Eastern Europe. The wineries or wine shops should send the samples and I will taste them. The only requirement is that the wine should be available somewhere in the USA. It does not matter where, it can be in the smallest town in the farthest state, but it should be available.”

Well, thank you Jeff, and maybe in the not too far future you would be knighted as well, just keep on with your enthusiasm for Tokaj and Hungary!