Record number of wines were entered at the 57th Villány Regional Wine Contest. 361 wines were judged on 25 March, 257 of them are red – no wonder, Villány focuses on red wines. The Champion wine is Rejiji Wines Falcon Cuvée 2020, the most successful winery is Koch Winery with 6 grand gold, 14 gold and 15 silver medals. The best white wine is Gere Tamás & Zsolt Olaszrizling 2025.

Grand gold winner for less than 6 EUR (retail)

The white wine with the highest score is made by Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery. Zsolt Gere, the second-generation winemaker is a devoted professional, and his care and attention towards the vineyards and the wines is rewarding.
– This wine is made of 100% Olaszrizling variety.
– 26-year-old vines (on average) from Szarkás, Dobogó (Nagyharsány), Kenderföld (Kisharsány), Máriagyűd, Nagytótfalú (Siklós).
– 45 000 bottles were made.
– Alcohol: 12.5 %, acidity: 5.7 g/l, residual sugar: 1.4 g/l
Clear, pale colour, intense aroma. Crisp, lively style, citrusy, green notes blend with sweet, fruity, ripe pineapple notes. A harmonious, well-rounded wine with the almond aromas, characteristic of Olaszrizling. Light and easy to drink, with lovely acidity.
(Note that Olaszrizling is a completely different grape variety from Rhine Riesling.)
More about Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery

In case you are interested in importing Gere Tamás & Zsolt wines, contact Zsolt Takács sales manager.

Gere Tamás & Zsolt and other top wineries

The annual walk-around tasting of Bordeaux blend wines takes place again in the 5-star, glamorous Corinthia Hotel Budapest. Blends of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are magnificent, just like the venue abundant in marble and velvet. Tickets are on sale now, and early bird tickets are available!

Results announced

Villány wine region organised the international competition of the wines made of Portugieser grape variety, with wines from 5 countries. Three Champion awards were given: Szemes Villányi Portugieser Hungary 2024 (young Portugieser), Jackfall Gesztenyés Portugieser Hungary 2022 (aged Portugieser), Christine & Harald Schachl Schlosskeller Austria 2023 (blended Portugueser). One Grand Gold was given: Gere Tamás & Zsolt Portugieser Hungary 2024.

Single vineyard champion: Jackfall Gesztenyés

Jackfall Wine Manufacture is a small family winery, and their Portugieser from Gesztenyés vineyard is legendary. Their winemaker, András Köszeli, gained experience in renowned wine regions like Tuscany, Napa Valley, and Provence, his wines feature elegance and complexity. Jackfall proves that a humble grape like Portugieser can shine in good hands. After spontaneous fermentation, the wine matured for 12 months in French oak barrels. “A medium ruby colour. Intense fruitiness on the nose, with ripe cherry, plum, rose hip, almond and sweet spices. The palate is deep and well-structured, featuring raspberry and cherry flavours, along with sour cherry and plum. Silky and soft tannins contribute to a beautiful maturity, well-integrated with subtle barrel influence, leading to a long finish.“

It costs only 4690 HUF / 11–12 EUR on the webshop of the winery

More about Jackfall

Jackfall Winery, Villány

No rush, but you can enjoy it now: Gere Tamás & Zsolt Portugieser

This family winery is famous for swimming against the current and not releasing wines early. Their wines age well, time suits Gere Tamás & Zsolt wines. Yet, this grand Gold proves that the estate can produce easy-going, lovely wines for early cunsumption as well. If you stroll below, you can see that the other Portugieser of the estate, the RedY also won gold from the same vintage. The grape for the Grand Gold winner comes from three different vineyards: Csillagvölgy, Remete and Várerdő.

“Clean, purple color. Varietal scent with some flowers but mainly cherry notes. When tasted, the floral notes only show themselves in the background. The taste is typical for Villányi Portugieser. The contrast of ripe cherries and astringent flavours (cherries) makes it playful. The sip is long enough to hold itself gracefully. Fresh and crispy. It is characterized by a creamy texture, beautiful acids and complexity.”
And it costs only 2290 HUF / 5–6 EUR on the webshop of the winery (the vintage 2024 is only on the Hungarian version of the website)

More about Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery

Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery

Besides the above listed accolades, 12 gold medals were given:

Gáspár Portugieser 2024 (Hungary)
Gere Tamás & Zsolt Redy 2024 (Hungary)
Günzer Tamás Portugieser 2024 (Hungary)
Jackfall Gesztenyés Portugieser 2020 (Hungary)
Lelovits Tamás Villányi Portugieser 2024 (Hungary)
Mikeházi Portugieser 2023 (Hungary)
Szende Villányi Portugieser 2024 (Hungary)
Tiffán Imre és Fia Villányi Portugieser 2024 (Hungary)
Vinska Klet Metlika Portugalka 2024 (Slovenia)
Vylyan Macska Portugieser 2024 (Hungary)
Weingut Christine & Harald Schachl Granat 2023 (Austria)
Weingut Christine & Harald Schachl Blauer Portugieser 2024 (Austria)

12 wineries including Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery

The Castle of Siklós is a stunning venue to taste wines, our 4th Hungarian Gettogether took place there three years ago, and our guests loved it! You can enjoy the atmosphere of the legendary place full of history, staring at the sunset, and taste the best wines of Villány, the southernmost wine region of Hungary.

Date and time: 2 August 2024, 18.00–22.00
Venue: Castle of Siklós, Villány wine region, South Hungary, approximately 2 hours by car via M6 motorway
Wineries presenting their wines: Ábel, Bíbor, Bock, Bodor, Fritsch, Gere & Schubert, Gere Tamás & Zsolt, Günzer Tamás, Ipacs Szabó, Koch (VinArt), Riczu, Sauska, REDy (community booth by Villány REDy producers)
Tickets cost 5900 HUF / 15 EUR in advance, online, here, or 7900 HUF / 20 EUR on the spot
Wine glass rental is 2000 HUF / glass, cash is needed.

Guests can also taste the latest TOP12 Villányi Franc selection!

Top 12 Cabernet Franc from Villány revealed

There are several places to stay around, including Diófa Pension by Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery

Diófa Pension by Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery is an ideal place to stay if you want to “stay like a local”. “Diófa Pension lies in a quiet courtyard in the heart of Villány. Great atmosphere of the wine region and quality suitable for today’s demand.
We provide the comfort of our guests with 9 double rooms (3 are able to be furnished with extra bed) and a spacious family apartment suitable for 4-6 people. All rooms are equipped with LCD television, adjustable cooling – heating apparatus and own bathroom. Free wifi in all over the building. Cars of our guests are able to park free in the courtyard.”

More about Diófa Pension

Including Gere Tamás & Zsolt wines from Villány

Borjour Magnum is nn ideal event to get a snapshot of Hungarian winemaking with more than 200 wineries in one place. Ticket holders can taste more than 1000 wines at Novotel Budapest Congress Centre. A “magnum” tasting indeed! A few tickets are still available for the tasting today, afternoon on 17 February.

The organizer team – and a series of smaller and larger scale events – is called Borjour, which obviously rhymes with the French Bonjour, while ‘Bor’ means ‘Wine’ in Hungarian. Borjour launched this event in 2010, which makes it the oldest indoor wine event, and also with the largest indoor wine exhibition.

 

Borjour Magnum essential info

Date and time: 17 February 2024, 15.00–21.00
Venue: Novotel Budapest Congress Centre, Budapest, Jagelló út 1-3, Hungary
See the list of exhibitors here (‘Következő’ means ‘Next’ to see the next page of exhibitors)
Tickets / person: 20 000 HUF / 52.5 EUR on the spot / 15 900 HUF / 41 EUR online prior to the event
Buy your ticket here (in Hungarian, but google can help).

Some of the exhibitors

Babarczi Vineyard and Winery (Pannonhalma), Borbély Family Winery (Badacsony), Bock Winery (Villány), Dubicz Vineyard and Winery (Mátra), Dúzsi Family Winery (Szekszárd), Fehérvári Wine Estate (Somló), Feind Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Frittmann Winery (Kunság), Garamvári Vineyard (Balatonboglár), Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery (Villány), Heimann Family Estate (Szekszárd), Heumann Winery (Villány), Homola Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Koch Winery (Hajós–Baja / Villány), Kovács Nimród Winery (Eger), Lajver Wine House (Szekszárd), Pannonhalma Archabbey (Pannonhalma), Patricius Winery (Tokaj), Sauska (Tokaj / Villány), Steigler Cellar (Sopron), Szeleshát (Szekszárd), TaschnerWinery and Sparkling Wine House (Sopron), Teleki (Villány), Tóth Ferenc Winery (Eger), Tűzkő Estate (Tolna), Vesztergombi Cellar (Szekszárd), Villa Sandahl (Badacsony), VylyanVineyard and Winery (Villány)

The annual conference and tasting scheduled on 19–20 November this year is finally cancelled. Events are not forbidden in Hungary, they can be held with extra safety measures, but the organizers did not want to risk the safety and health of the participants in the recent situation. Hungary suffers severely from the second wave of the pandemic with rising number of cases, though restaurants and bars are still open unlike in many other European countries. The wineries also await visitors, thus if you happen to stay in Hungary, a wine weekend in Villány will surely cheer your soul up.

Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery – in November and always

Masks are now obligatory to wear, so why not wear one from your favourite winery? Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery conducts a St Martin dinner on the 14th November with courses like ‘sólet’ (something like cholent, a traditional Jewish–Hungarian oven baked bean casserole) with smoked goose breast. The dinner will be sold out soon, but the estate always welcomes visitors, and the pansion of the winery offers cosy rooms to stay.

If you visit, do not miss Aureus, the flagship blend of the winery, which is made only in the best vintages. The grapes come from prestigious vineyards of Villány: Kopár, Várerdő and Csillagvölgy. A blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, made with great care and attention. “Its beauty lies in the balance. The objective was to find a perfect balance and create absolute harmony. A wine with great ageing potential.“

More about Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery