2. Babarczi Family Winery – Oh, mother!

Look at this strong, ambitious lady! She is part of the family winery, of which someone has just passed away. Zsuzsanna’s mother, the founder’s wife, the “mom” of the estate has left to a place where glass is always full. The first Christmas without her must be hard. Let us send her our condolences.
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3. Taschner Wine House – hey, how about the planet?

Kurt Taschner is keen about posting stunning photos day by day. Around Christmas he wanted to share a lovely photo with snow around – but we do not have any snow. We have unusual high temperature, so Kurt was left with no choice, but to share an earlier photo. Yes, he and we are all longing for some normal climate circumstances! Climate change is not the change we wish.

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4. Csetvei Cellar – always a family

Krisztina Csetvei is amazing – as we have said hundred times, but we must keep repeating, because indeed she is. A person with infinite energies, with unique wines and – which is the most important around Christmas – with the ability to create a community. Csetvei Garden is the ultimate place for winelovers, whatever the circumstances are. Her little daughter, Panna is older now – the changes of our kids are always astonishing.
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5. Sabar Wine House – Sabarism, the new philosophy

Have you heard of impressionism? Cubism? Dadaism? Forget all. Sabarism is the new trend:) “More and more people like spending time here with a growing family and a growing circle of friends, and sometimes you celebrate important anniversaries with us. When you are here, it is like spending college years together. The most essential thing is being together, laugh and share experiences, just like back in school. This is what sabarism means to us. Relaxed and cheerful moments, days, tearful laughs, emotions, tranquility.” Sabar Wine House, this small estate on the small hill makes great wine, and also made a great change: it created a whole new word for those who experience sabarism.
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6. Kristinus Wine Estate – closer to nature

This South Balaton winery is deep in the transition into a more natural way of viticulture and vinification. No more gas masks – spreading the vines is not biohazard at Kristinus any more. The person behind is Florian Zaruba, the CEO, a man who lives around the estate, a man who breathes together with the estate.
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7. The writer

Hungarianwines.eu publishes a new piece of news almost every day. All the emails sent to us are answered. The person behind the words is me, Ágnes Németh. This year is a year of change for me as well. May God give me strength to continue.

I wish a happier new year to all of our readers – in the name of all of our partner wineries:

Babarczi, Barta, Béres, Bock, Borbély, Csányi, Csetvei, Dereszla, Dubicz, Dúzsi, Eszterbauer, Etyeki Kúria, Frittmann, Garamvári, Gere Attila, Gere Tamás & Zsolt, Grand Tokaj, Haraszthy, Heumann, Hilltop, Koch, Kovács Nimród, Kristinus, Lajver, Paulus, Patricius, Sabar, Sauska, Taschner, Thummerer, Tornai, Tóth Ferenc, Tűzkő, Vesztergombi, Villa Sandahl, Vylyan, Zsirai.

How Hungarian Cabernet Franc Changed My Dad’s Life and Mine

My Dad was known to his friends as ‘Cab Franc.’ His name was really Joseph and all of his social time with visiting friends was spent talking about his favourite wine and grape from Hungary, Cabernet Franc.
My mother’s side of the family is Hungarian, her sister was born near Villány. Her mother’s last name was Grosz and her father’s given name was Erdélyi. That was the Hungarian connection. My father was an inventor and very private about his patents. What he was not private about was Cabernet Franc. He tooted his horn about Cabernet Franc wherever he went. His business trips included several to Hungary.

Whenever he went to Hungary for business, he took two extra, empty suitcases, filling them up, upon return, with bottles of Cabernet Franc. When my parents had their bi-monthly parties at our house in New Orleans, in the 70’s and 80’s, wine spritzers were popular. A wine spritzer is made from equal parts of chilled wine mixed with either club soda or ginger ale. Following the trend, my father made wine coolers using Cabernet Franc. Eventually, the guests said, forget the club soda and ginger ale and pour the wine Cab Franc only. That is when they started calling my father, ‘Cab Franc’, instead of Joseph.

On some business trips he would bring back bottles of Cabernet Franc from France, and other trips, Cab Franc from Italy. When he poured these bottles from France and Italy, his band of friends would say the wine doesn’t taste right. It’s not the usual Cab Franc that you pour for us from Hungary. We don’t want an imposter, they would say. My dad’s  loyal friends would say, just bring back the right stuff, the Cab Franc from Hungary.

I remember dad telling stories to our relatives, Raymond and Roger Weill, who were among America’s foremost stamp collectors. They were both wine connoisseurs, especially high end Burgundies and Bordeaux’s. When the Weill brothers came to our house for a Sunday meal (my mom was their favourite cook), they would bring a case of Hungarian Cabernet Franc for my father, as a gift. They knew my dad’s supply of Cabernet Franc from Hungary frequently ran out.

In a panicked moment, my dad called then asked if they could suggest to Martins Wine Cellar, the premier wine shop in New Orleans, to carry Cabernet Franc from Hungary. The Weill brothers were influential and Martin’s Wine Cellar purchased a pallet for the Weills and to keep on hand. It didn’t take long for Martins Wine Cellar to sell the wine, due in part because my dad was the self appointed Hungarian Cabernet Franc ambassador in New Orleans. In fact, my father said to the staff at Martins Wine Cellar, if you can’t educate your customers on how great this grape from Hungary is, I would be happy to buy all of the bottles you can’t sell. My father was a man of his word.

As the years went by, my interest in wine grew. I married, living in Nuremberg, Germany, teaching journalism, photography and movie-making at Nuremberg American High School. We owned a Volkswagen camper and had three months every summer to travel. This was in the 90’s. My summer goal was to camp in Hungary to visit Villány and learn about my father’s favourite grape, Cabernet Franc.

My dad passed away in 1989, so it was my duty to visit Villány and learn first hand about Cabernet Franc for both ‘Cab Franc’ and my mother’s Hungarian roots. The visit was a success. I learned that Cabernet Franc was a relatively new variety in Hungary, having been planted in the early 1900s. It took until the 60’s before the variety began to thrive in Hungary, specifically, Villány. Cab Franc was used mostly in the 90’s in Bordeaux blends. The winemakers realized that in their land of rolling hills and valleys that Villány should be the home of Cabernet Franc. Siklós, to the west of Villány, has cooler limestone hills, producing Cab Franc with more acidity and ripe for blending with Villány grapes. Villány has a Mediterranean climate, with long, hot summers and mild winters. Cabernet Franc is planted everywhere in the region. The end result encompasses a fruit forward wine that is balanced, velvety and has old word earthiness. It’s a clean wine that rolls off your palate and continues to grow and takes minutes to end, due to its long finish. My Hungarian wine friends taught a Hungarian phrase to me,’Ha Villány, akkor Cabernet Franc! Ha Cabernet Franc, akkor Villány,’ The translation is simple, ‘If you think of Villány, think of Cabernet Franc. If you think of Cabernet Franc, think of Villány.’

Cabernet Franc is a fascinating grape. Historically, I was taught, it’s the father of both Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. If that is the case, its juiciness, spice and even structure make this variety a superstar. With high alcoholic content (15% is normal), the tannins do exist in younger vintages, but disappear with ageing, turning this wine into an elegant, fruit driven, fresh wine, worthy of international acclaim. If it weren’t for my father’s passion about Cabernet Franc, chances are I would never have entered the wine world. Like my Dad, my goal is to alert the world that Hungarian Cabernet Franc is a ‘World Class’ wine. Isn’t it time to try my Dad’s favorite Hungarian export, Cabernet Franc?

A.GERE FEKETE JÁRDOVÁNY 2024

A.GERE VILLÁNYI FRANC ÖRDÖGÁROK 2023

A.GERE Kopar 2022

A.GERE Solus 2023

A.GERE Attila Cuvée 2021

Hungary is rich in thermal spas, so if you want to heal your body as well as your soul, our country is an ideal choice. Debrecen is the second most populous and the third largest city in Hungary, and with its international airport it is easy to reach from several cities. Aquaticum Hotel and Spa in Debrecen is a paradise for spa lovers, but wine lovers will also have a good time here.

Bathe and get healed

The medicinal water of Debrecen is 65°C thermal water containing alkali chloride, hydrogen carbonate, iodine, bromide, sodium chloride and significant amounts of calcium, magnesium metaboric acid and metasilicic acid. The water is beneficial for several diseases from osteoporosis to chronic respiratory diseases, and it can even help in case of certain forms of infertility. Aquaticum has indoor and outdoor pools at different temperature, saunas, and the wellness area offers diverse massages and other treatments. What is more, this summer the most modern pool complex of Hungary has been completed as well. The extraordinary swimming park boasts pools at 12 metres high!

Taste yourself through all wine regions

Aquaticum Hotel guests can easily reach the indoor and outdoor pools, and after bathing they have many options to relax. Natura Restaurant offers meals for people with every kind of dietary restrictions and food allergies, and those who treat themselves with wines can also find “remedy”. Debrecen is not part of any wine regions, grapes are not grown around here, maybe this is the reason of the openness of locals. Natura wine list offers wines from all over Hungary, so if you stay for a longer vacation, you can learn about a wine region each day. From Villány you can taste for example Bock, Gere Attila or Vylyan wines, from Szekszárd Dúzsi or Mészáros, from Tokaj Demetervin or Royal Tokaji wines, and Géza Balla wines are also on the wine list from Ménes wine region (Romania).

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