award Archives - Hungarianwines

Drinks Business award to Taste Hungary

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 14:23:18 +0000

British print and online publication, Drinks Business founded the award 17 years ago. Since then the best achievements of wine and spirit trade have been announced annually in several categories. It is worth checking the list of winners also for getting inspirations about trendy packaging, effective marketing campaigns. The previous edition brought success to a Hungarian company called Wines of Hungary UK: it received Special Recommendation (with RandR Teamwork) for its Furmint February campaign in trade campaign category. Back then the award ceremony took place during London Wine Fair, while this year due to the pandemic the award ceremony was virtual, streamed from Asia House, London.

This year again we can celebrate!

Taste Hungary won the award in Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism category. “This year’s award goes to an organization that was praised for harnessing the power of social media to build a loyal community at a time when travel is tricky,” said Patrick Schmitt MW, Drinks Businesseditor-in-chief. Taste Hungary has been organizing wine tours and tastings in Hungary for many years, but this year they have also launched a webshop which ships to almost all member states of the European Union. “This is the year that rather than hosting guests for in-person experiences, we brought Hungarian wine tourism into the living roomsof our guests,” said Taste Hungary co-owner Carolyn Bánfalvi. Carolyn and her husband, Gábor Bánfalvi have also been operating an importing company in the US with an online shop and quarterly Hungarian wine club.

A lot to discover

The wine selection of Taste Hungary includes exciting wines from more well known producers like Béres Vineyard and Winery (Tokaj), Frittmann Winery (Kunság), HeumannWinery (Villány) or Kovács Nimród Winery (Eger), but winelovers can also find gems yet to be discovered like BöjtWinery (Eger), Csernyik Winery (Mátra) or Cseri Winery (Pannonhalma).

Congratulations to the whole team of Taste Hungary!

Drinks Business Award winners

Read our interview with Carolyn Bánfalvi

Buy Taste Hungary wines within the EU

Buy Taste Hungary wines in the US

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The Best Red Wine in Hungary

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 13:06:06 +0000

Like with many things in Hungary, the Top 100 wines publication has two versions. (Last week we reported the announcement of The Most Beautiful Wine Estate by a wine magazine, while two weeks ago we reported another prize with the same topic.). So this small country has two Top 100 publications, of course with many similarities. First we mention the one which was published earlier by Világgazdaság publishing house, and the chair of the panel tasting was Attila Fiáth DipWSET wine expert.

The concept is useful for the final consumer: all the tasted wines are widely available, in fact these are the most sold wines in supermarkets, hypermarkets and the most important wine stores. Therefore the list is a useful guide for wine consumers: they can easily find the listed top wines near their home, and if they agree with any of the results, they are more likely to taste others as well from the top list.

According to this list, Bock Ermitage 2015 managed to achieve the 4th position of the list, and with this result – with only Tokaji Aszú wines in front – the Villány red blend is the leading red wine. Made from grape varieties from the most beautiful vineyards in the Villány wine region, a cuvee of Merlot, Pinot Noir, Portugieser, Kékfrankos and Syrah built upon a base of Cabernet. It is matured in large oak barrels (70%) and used barrique barrels (30%) for 12 months. “A wine characterized by its medium dark intensity and colour verging on the garnet-red paired with lightly spiced, red-fleshed fruits. The bitterness of the sour cherry with a light chocolate aftertaste can be sensed in its flavour.”

The more Bock wines made it in the Top 100: Bock Cuvée 2015 and Cabernet Franc 2016.

More about Bock Ermitage and other Bock wines

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The other Most Beautiful Estate

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 13:02:50 +0000

As we have reported recently, Agrotrend Group has announced The Most Beautiful Wine Estate. The winner was Vesztergombi Cellar in Szekszárd. Agrotrend is a media group and they have organized the award for the fourth time to select the best examples of every type of agricultural enterprises from orchards to vineyards.
This other prize has the same topic, but it was founded earlier (in 2012) by a trade wine magazine called Bor és Piac (‘Wine and Market’). The competition had two turns. First people voted for their favourite winery out of the 130 entries, and the three estates with the most votes became the finalists in each category (small, medium and large estates). The editorial group of the magazine then visited all the nine finalist estates and each member voted secretly.

The winners are:

– Small estate: Dobogó Estate, Tokaj

– Medium estate: Eszterbauer Winery, Szekszárd

– Large estate: Bodri Winery, Szekszárd

There are many similarities regarding the top rated estates in the two contest, for example Vesztergombi, the winner of Agrotend came second at Bor és Piac competition after Eszterbauer, and Bodri, the large estate winner here was a finalist in the other competition.
Congratulations to the winners!

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The two best Hungarian reds according to Andreas Larsson

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 12:10:45 +0000

Did you know that the extension ‘wine’ can also be added to your domains nowadays? Get rid of the boring .com or .org, isn’t it cooler to have .wine? Well, the Swedish wine expert, world champion sommelier’s website has the cool extension, and it tells a lot about the devotion of the owner. Andreas Larsson of Tasted. wine believes that ‘Evaluate a wine is something very subjective and every palate is different. Perfection is something very personal, that’s why I rarely give a 100 Point score. And in the end the comment is more important. That’s also the reason I like to follow a wine several times, particularly during its first 2-3 years when it often changes the most and the consumer needs guidance.’ During the past years he has tasted several Hungarian wines, and if you check his chart with the top scores, you will see that most wines are those noble sweet wines from Tokaj. The red wines with the top scores have 93 scores, and these are the following ones:

NJK 2011, Kovács Nimród Winery, Eger

Inky dark purple core and a lighter rim. The nose is intense and pure with fine oak, floral dark fruit, cassis, kirsch, tobacco and fine spices. The palate has an excellent bite with fine proportions, polished tannin, a fresh acidity, layers of floral dark fruit and crème de cassis, and a lingering and nuanced finish. Very good.

Trinitás 2016, Heumann Winery, Villány

Intense dark purple colour. The nose starts with some new oak and toast paired with ripe black fruit, cassis, plum, tobacco and fine spices. Very good grip on the palate, dense but fresh dark fruit with pepper, clove, fine wood and tobacco notes, young but ripe tannin with a long and layered finish. Nicely done.

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123 Hungarian medals plus 1 Best in Show at Decanter World Wine Awards!

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 11:23:28 +0000

A record number of medals went to Hungary at the 17th edition of the grandiose British contest. Two years ago 70, last year 105 medals, while this year 123 medals and a Best in Show title were given to Hungarian entries. Tokaj received a 1 Best in Show, 5 Platinum, all for Tokaji Aszú wines, all with 97 scores. Hungary collected 12 gold medals as well, mostly again for Tokaj wines. We won 40 silver medals, too, and it is great to see several red wines among the highest scored silver winners! Plus Hungary received 66 bronze medals, even a Petnat was awarded (by Kristinus Wine Estate).

Old King has solidified its throne

The Best in Show acknowledgement went to Juliet Victor, a young winery, congratulations, what a success story!
Barta Cellar is another real success story – we have reported about the praising reviews and the acknowledgements several times. This relatively young estate has its vineyard in one of the oldest, steepest and most valuable vineyards of Mád, Tokaj. Barta 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú Öreg Király 2016 (‘Öreg Király’ means ‘Old King’) is one of the 5 Platinum winners, and proved once again the merit of the terroir and the skill of the winemaker. As Vivien Ujvári, winemaker of Barta Cellar commented, ‘This wine is timeless. It will be as amazing in decades as it is now, while this aszú is also about reaching the extremes, crossing boundaries. Elegant wine with endless length.’

The other Platinum winners are: Sauska 5 puttonyos aszú 2017, Dobogó 6 puttonyos aszú 2013, Harsányi 6 puttonyos aszú 2016, Kern 5 puttonyos aszú 2014.

More about Tokaji Aszú

More about Barta Cellar

Red success – over the barrique age

Most of the gold winner Hungarian wines arrived from Tokaj as well, for example Dereszla 5 and 6 puttonyos aszú wines from 2016 and 2010 or Grand Tokaj dessert wine from 2013. However, what we can also see this year, is the wide recognition of Hungarian red wines, mainly among the silver winners. As Regional Chair for North, Central & Eastern Europe, Beth Willard commented, ‘I think that there’s an overall improvement in the qualityof the flights overall, mainly because the wines are really balanced and fresh, but showing incredible varietal character so that’s really exciting. It’s really great to see some of the reds from Eastern Europe, so countries like Moldova, Romania and Hungary, showing a lot more freshness and really great quality oak. The wines are a lot more balanced, so we’ve had some standout wines from those regions.’

Indeed, the winemakers understood the call for freshness and left the overoaked wines behind.

– Sauska has long been famous for its elegant red wines, and again it collected a silver medal besides its Platinum. The silver went to Sauska Kékfrankos 2017, which is a great pleasure for us since Kékfrankos is our most important native red variety.

– Kadarka is another indigenous grape of ours, and it is not often honoured with medals, mainly because this sensitive grape is very hard to handle. Tóth Ferenc Winery from Eger managed to win a silver medal for its Superior Kadarka 2018!

– ‘Cabernet Franc has found its new home in Villány’ – as we keep saying after Michael Broadbent, and thanks God the success of Franc in Villány, the so called Villányi Franc has proved its potential again, among others with Csányi Winery Kővilla Válogatás Villányi Franc 2015.

To see all Hungarian medal winners click here

The largest contest in the world

‘Over 28 consecutive days in August, 116 of the world’s top wine experts, including 37 Masters of Wine and nine Master Sommeliers, blind tasted 16,518 wines under strict Covid safety guidelines, resulting in 50 Best in Show, 178 Platinum, 537 Gold, 5,234 Silver and 7,508 Bronze medals.‘ – with these statistics Decanter World Wine Award is undoubtedly the largest international wine contest.

Summary of this year’s DWWA

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The Most Beautiful Vineyard: Vesztergombi Cellar

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 10:01:14 +0000

As we reported earlier, Agrotrend group has organized the award for the fourth time to select the best examples of agricultural enterprises. The professional jury selected the finalists in each category, in vineyard–winery category the following three estates: Vesztergombi Cellar (Szekszárd), Tornai Winery (Somló) and Bodri Winery (Szekszárd). The judges take several aspects into consideration: look of the vineyards, the cellar, the environment of the winery and of course the building itself with the tasting room. The Vesztergombi family has wonderful, old Kadarka vineyards at the highest point of Szekszárd, the cellar is stunning with arches made of neat rows of bricks and the estate building is also charming with flowers around it. The family awaits its visitors any time of the year, and all the tastings and winery tours are conducted by a member of the family.

More about Vesztergombi Cellar

Map of Szekszárd wine region

Map of Hungarian wine regions

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Winemaker of the Winemakers: Top 5 announced!

Hungarianwines.eu — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 07:21:28 +0000

This award is considered to be the most prestigious one by many experts, because the winemakers themselves choose the best one. The nomination was done by the previous award winners, and the circle of the best 50 was announced on 6th March. Then the voting period took place, the 50 nominated winemakers voted for their favourite among them. Now the top 5 have been announced: Károly Áts (Grand Tokaj, Tokaj), Sarolta Bárdos (Tokaj Nobilis, Tokaj), Judit Bodó (Bott Cellar, Tokaj), Zoltán Heimann (Heimann, Szekszárd), István Ipacs Szabó (Vylyan, Villány – in the photo). Now the 50 winemakers will vote again, they will decide who gets the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”-like star on the pavement of Zrínyi street in Budapest. It is great to see that the five of them are from different scales: Grand Tokaj is the largest winery in Tokaj and Vylyan is the second largest in Villány – but winemaker colleagues seemingly understand and respect the work these winemakers do to maintain outstanding quality in significant quantity. Heimann is a medium size winery, while Tokaj Nobilis and Bott are smaller ones with maximum respect of the terroir. All five have long history of dedicated, humble work to create the purest, the most elegant and most expressing wines. Congratulations to all of them!

Read our previous article in the topic

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Best European Winery: Aurum award for Koch Winery

Hungarianwines.eu — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 10:03:59 +0000

CEUCO (European Oenogastronomic Brotherhoods Council) held its 2019 award ceremony during the 17th Congress of the trade association in Portugal. Awards are given in several categories, like Best European Hotel restaurant (El Principe, Italy) or Best Gastronomy Journalist (Paulo Salvador, Portugal). The Best European Winery award has been given to three wineries this year: Koch Winery (Hungary), Bodega Cooperativa Vinícola Requenense (Spain), Cavit Winery (Italy). The association appreciates wineries taking care of national traditions. Csaba Koch, the owner has clear vision regarding grape growing, wine making and wine tourism as well. His invention of viticulture, the so called „happy grape” works well, his wines has received countless prizes, plus his estate is a traditional rural guest house with delicious, rustic feasts and welcoming rooms. A must-see place with lovely wines from the aromatic white varieties to the full bodied, aged red wines.

More about Koch Winery

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Patricius Tokaji Aszú – the World’s 4th Best Sweet Wine

Hungarianwines.eu — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 12:38:39 +0000

Gold shines through the toughest competition

Only 1% of the wines involved is awarded in this tough competition. The contest is less known at the moment, though it is extremely serious and involves a huge number of wines. The contest was created by Fine Magazines (published in Scandinavia, Europe, USA, India and Australia) and Tastingbook.com.

Consumers vote, professionals taste – three times

Unlike other wellknown wine contests, the first phase is carried on online: producers enter their wines (150 euros / sample), and voting period begins. Winelovers and professionals can vote for 3 months, and to make it more exciting: the progression of votes can be followed on real time on Tastingbook.com during the entire 3-months voting period. The voting power of professionals is heavily weighted in their favour. On the second phase the 30 most voted wines in each category are proceeded to finals where finalist wines are blind tasted and assessed by the wine professionals (Master of Wine experts and other highly qualified professionals) – three times. Over 22.500 wines received in total 1.333.896 votes from 620.000 wine professionals and winelovers from 105 countries during the three months voting period.

Sweet news for Hungary

In red wines category 2 Californian wines are on the top, then a Rhône (E. Guigal) and a Penfolds from Australia. With dry white wines Europe wins with E. Guigal on the top from Rhône, then a Wachau Grüner Veltliner (Loibner), then again a Rhône (Chapoutier) and a German wine from Rheinhessen (Keller G-Max). Champagne is certanly ruled by champagne (Dom Perignon, Roederer, Taittinger), and the best sparkling is not surprisingly a prosecco from Bisol (followed by two Spanish sparkling, a Raventos i Blanc and a Pere Ventura cava).

Fortified wines are ruled by Port (no surprise here, Graham’s Vintage Port is the winner from 2011), and the best rosé comes from New Zealand (Squealing Pig Rosé from Central Otago) followed by a Portugal and a Spanish Rioja rosé.
The best sweet wine is a TBA from Robert Weil, Rheingau, Germany (Kiedrich Gräfenberg TBA 2016). Well deserved! Then a Kracher Welschriesling from Austria, a Suduiraut from Sauternes, and the 4th best wine is Patricius Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos from 2007! Amazing result to be among the best wines of the world!

Read all the results here

Enourmous structure, endless taste

Péter Molnár, director of Patricius estate believes that Tokaji Aszú must not be heavy and overconcentrated. To keep Tokaji Aszú among the best, winemakers should create fresh, balanced wine which is easy to drink. “Wine contests like BWW justifies that Tokaj is a unique wine region of great quality. Our ancestors have precisely established the base of our work back in the 14^th-15^th century. We do not necessarily need to create new things, our forefathers have already experimented to find the best varieties and methods. Aszú has brought fame to Tokaj, therefore we adjust our philosophy to this heritage at Patricius Estate” – says Péter Molnár.
And now the 4^th best sweet wine of the world: “Nicest aromas of botrytized berries followed by enormous, high structure and full body. Long, smooth, endless taste and exceptional deepness of peach, apricot and fig character. Full of Tokaj!”

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