Patricius Winery – the Winery of the Year, 2016

One of the most important awards of Hungary, the Winery of the Year in 2016 went to a winery of Tokaj wine region. As Péter Molnár, manager of the estate said on 20 October on the award ceremony ‘Working on a UNESCO World Heritage site, on the most beautiful vineyards of the world gives us inspiration every day. We are aware of the achievements of our ancestors and we know that these traditions should come to life again and be passed on to our successors. Tradition, value, uniqueness, balance – these are the base of our mission.’

The second winery of the contest, Csányi Winery from Villány was awarded with a certificate.

The Winery of the Year award and its criteria

It is a very important award in Hungary given annually. The award was founded in 2002 by the National Council of Wine Regions, the Hungarian Wine Academy and the Association of Hungarian Grape Growers and Winemakers, the procedure is organized by Bacchus Studio. The winery to gain the award should enter the competition with a carefully worked out, detailed document and then a poll from professional circles decides the winner. When deciding, the professional circles take a lot of aspects into consideration, like these:

• The quality of wines produced in the winery.
• The impact of the winery on local, regional, national and international level.
• The role of the winery in increasing the good reputation of Hungarian wines.
• The work of the winery to make quality and moderate wine drinking more popular.
• The image of the winery and the wines.
• The look of the winery building and all its facilities.
• Innovations, recent development of the winery.
• The size, condition, age of vineyards.
• Employees working conditions, the number of new workplaces created.

 

Patricius wines around the world

The founder of the winery, Dezső Kékessy used to be the Hungarian ambassador in France. His diplomatic talent is a good tool to make the world know about Patricius wines. The winery had a good year in 2015 regarding income as well, the profit showed significant increase from the previous year. The net income of the winery is 319 million HUF, and 77 million HUF is the income from export. Patricius wines can be found all over the world from Brazil to New Zealand, from the USA to France:

Find Patricius wines in the world: https://patricius.hu/en/where-to-find-our-wines/international/

History of Patricius Winery

The Patricius Winery is found in the Tokaj region and was established by the Kékessy family. The Kékessy family’s winemaking mission is nurtured by their family history. The owners are Dezső Kékessy and his daughter Katinka Kékessy.

The family’s maternal and paternal ancestors were well-known vineyard owners in the regions of the Tokaj and Mátra foothills from the 18thcentury. The maternal ancestors – the Okolicsányi family – had vineyards in Tokaj, Szegi, and Szőlőske, and also held important offices as public servants (Deputy Lord-Lieutenant, Member of Parliament). The winery is a reconstructed winepress house of the vineyard Várhegy. The building was previously owned by Jesuits and various aristocratic families, such as the Wolkenstein and Falkenheim, Széchenyi and Rákóczi, Falkenstein and Hohenlohe. Even though the building was used as a simple presshouse, it was mentioned in the Tokaj-Hegyalja Album of 1867.

The characteristics of this old building have been preserved while also being integrated into a modern center of an estate.

Previous Wineries of the Year

2015 Frittmann Winery, Kunság wine region
2014 Dúzsi Tamás, Szekszárd wine region
2013 Ikon Winery, South Balaton
2012 Mészáros Winery, Szekszárd wine region
2011 Thummerer Winery, Eger wine region
2010 Pannonhalmi Abbey Winery, Pannonhalma wine region
2009 Szőllősi Mihály Winery, Ászár–Neszmély wine region
2008 Vylyan Winery, Villány wine region
2007 Bock Winery, Villány wine region
2006 Garamvári Winery, South Balaton
2005 Disznókő Winery, Tokaj wine region
2004 Hilltop Estate, Ászár–Neszmély wine region
2003 Oremus Winery, Tokaj wine region
2002 Nagyrédei Winery, Mátra wine region