The results of the 21st Badacsonyi Kéknyelű Contest

Kéknyelű is a rare grape almost exclusively grown in the volcanic Badacsony wine region, north of Lake Balaton. The annual Kéknyelű contest results have been announced recently, and the absolute winner of the competition is Borbély Family Winery with 3 Grand Gold medals out of the 4 (plus 3 gold medals and 2 silver medals). The 2015 vintage with its Grand Gold proves Kéknyelű’s potential for ageing.

The versatile Kéknyelű

Altogether 23 producers entered 43 wines at the 21st edition of Badacsony Kéknyelű Contest. 4 Grand Gold was given, 17 gold, 19 silver and 3 bronze medals. (Yes, if you add up the medal winners, you will get the sum of 43, which means that all entered wines received at least a bronze medal.) The grand gold winner wines are:
– Borbély Badacsonyi Kéknyelű Selection 2020
– Borbély Badacsonyi Kéknyelű Selection 2015
– Borbély Badacsonyi Kéknyelű Selection 2019
– Weller Badacsonyi Kéknyelű 2020
The results of the contest give evidence of the versatility of Kényelű variety. Apart for giving elegant and delicate dry white wine, it is ideal for late harvest (Fölföldi Badacsonyi Kéknyelű Late Harvest 2015 gold medal) and also for traditional method sparkling wine (Weller Badacsonyi Kéknyelű Sparkling 2020 gold medal).

See the list of medal winners here

Read more about Borbély Family Winery

 

Taste Kéknyelű wines in Badacsony in July during the Badacsony Bor7, meaning “Badacsony Wine Week” from the 18th of July until the 3rd of August (well, it is a long week:). It is a free outdoor event with several exhibitors (including Borbély) and music concerts in the centre of Badacsony. No prior registration is needed, just go and enjoy.

More about the event here

 

Badacsonyi Kéknyelű – a brand new member of the Collection of Hungarikums

“Hungarikum is a collective term indicating a value worthy of distinction and highlighting within a unified system of qualification, classification, and registry and which represents the high performance of Hungarian people thanks to its typically Hungarian attribute, uniqueness, specialty and quality.” There are several categories including Industrial & Technical solutions (with the gorgeous Zsolnay porcelain) and Cultural heritage (with the 100-member Budapest Gipsy Symphony Orchestra).
Agriculture and food industry category includes – among others – the Hungarian acacia honey, the chimney cake and the ground paprika from the city of Szeged. As for wines within this category, we have Egri Bikavér and now Badacsonyi Kéknyelű.

Though the official website of the Collection of Hungarikums is not updated yet, Badacsonyi Kéknyelű was included in the prestigious list on the 29th of May, 2025.

See the Collection of Hungarikums here

A recent article about a new release by Borbély Family Winery

“Red Balaton” – Oraculum Pinot by Borbély from Badacsony

Recipe, food pairing

This simple, casserole dish is known in every Hungarian household. It is simple, easy to make, quite cheap, but using good quality ingredients it can be elevated to a noble level. Due to the complexity of the taste (smoked sausage, eggs, sour cream), it needs an equally complex with crispy acidity (to combat the fat from the sour cream and the sausage. We have tried with a single vineyard, barrel aged Olaszrizling from Badacsony region – it was excellent! Plus, Borbély Bács-Hegy Olasz rizling 2021 has just received 4 stars at Vince magazine – meaning ‘outstanding wine’.

Layered potato

It might be related to the French tartiflette or the also French dauphinois (potato gratin), however, while the French use a lot of cheese and cream, we use eggs and sour cream, therefore the overall taste experience is totally different. It is a truly traditional Hungarian dish first mentioned in 1840 in the cookbook by István Czifray. You can also add bacon (cut into small cubes), you can mix the sour cream with egg yolks to make it even richer, you can add more layers – the variations are infinite.

Ingredients (for 4 people)
– 1 kilo of potatoes (cooked in whole, sliced)
– 5 eggs (cooked in whole, sliced)
– 300 g sliced smoked sausage (we use Hungarian smoked sausage with paprika)
– At least 0.5 L sour cream (available in Eastern European shops or it can be replaced by crème fraîche)
– a tbs of butter
– salt, pepper

Borbély Family Winery is active on social media, and usually posts get 40–50 likes, but last week a post proved to be a real blockbuster: so far 283 likes were given to a post of 6th June! And the protagonist? Well, not naked women in the vineyard, not amazing discounts on wines, just three photos of a 60 year old vineyard of Olaszrizling grape. The training system is the traditional goblet or bush vine, and now new poles have been installed. No wonder, the charm of the neat rows with the basalt of Badacsony mountain in the background has enchanted followers. The fruit of this vineyard is used for speciality called Karós Olaszrizling Limited Selection – a wine available only at the cellar. A concentrated wine with characteristics of the variety, subtle oak spices and deep reflection of the terroir. Only 1000 bottles are made in this precious vineyard of only half hectare. The wine is fermented and matured in 500 l new oak barrel, and rests in bottle for a year.
Hungary is “open” again, the country is more or less over the crisis, citizens from Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia can enter without any restrictions, and soon other countries are expected to be included. Hotels, restaurants, wineries are open for visitors – so welcome again!
More about Borbély Family Winery