The 7th edition of the annual Furmint press and trade tasting features 13 great Furmint producers, one from Somlóand the rest from Tokaj. This year’s keyword is versatility, since participants will get the chance to taste every style of Furmint from the fresh, crispy ones to the single vineyard, utterly complex wines. Members of the trade and press can register for the tasting. This year wine enthusiasts are also welcome after the professional hours, from 5 pm.

Message from the organiser

“Furmint February is back again for its 7^th edition in 2025. This year it will showcase a carefully curated selection of wines from the best producers available in the UK. New wines, new vintages and new styles of wine will be on show emphasizing the exciting quality and versatility of this amazing grape. Whether as refined vibrant sparkling, crisp fruity steel-fermented wines or complex layered Burgundy alternatives, and of course Tokaji’s world-renowned sweet wines, there are styles to suit so many different occasions and cuisines. Join us to fall in love with Furmint.”
More about the organising Wine Communication

Date and time: 26 February 2025, 14.00–18.00 for professionals, 17.00–20.00 for consumers
Venue: Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, 76 Vincent Square London SW1P 2PD United Kingdom
Exhibitors: Dereszla, Disznókő, Füleky, Harsányi, Holdvölgy, Kolonics, Mad Moser, Patricius, Royal Tokaji, Sauska, Tokaj Hétszőlő, Tokaj Oremus, Zsirai
Trade and press registration here
Purchase your ticket for the consumers’ hours here

Furmint wines from our cover photo

CEE Women Winemakers & Caroline Gilby MW

Female winemakers from the heart of Europe will present their wines at a trade and press tasting in London. Is female wine a thing? Can a certain ‘female character’ be detected? You can ponder about this thesis with the help of more than 100 wines made by female winemakers from Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Moldova. The event is organized by Wines of Hungary UK and Caroline Gilby MW.

Date and time: 14 March 2023, 12.00–16.00
Venue: 67 Pall Mall, St James’s Room, St James’s, London SW1Y 5ES
Prior registration is needed here
Exhibitors from Hungary: Krisztina Machán-Csetvei (Csetvei Cellar, Mór), Kata Zsirai (Zsirai Winery, Tokaj, with her sister, Petra in the above picture), Zita Kovács (Sol Montis, Mátra) and Anikó Kada (TR Tokaj, Tokaj)

Where did the idea come from?

Caroline Gilby explained it in a recent interview on TheBuyer: “The idea rather came about when I started taking pictures of winemakers in Bulgaria while at a wine fair in Sofia for an article, and realising just how many women winemakers and owners there are. I then started digging further to find out that around 50% of Bulgaria’s winemakers are women, which makes the country, I believe, a world leader.
I also knew that Tokaj was a hotspot for female winemakers, but almost everywhere else across Central and Eastern Europe, women are often still stuck below a glass ceiling and macho attitudes. Along with Zsuzsa Toronyi of Wine Communication, we planned an event to celebrate and support these winemakers and owners before Covid, though sadly it was cancelled, so this is our chance to try again.”

Read the whole The Buyer article

Gilby’s tasting for Central & East European female winemakers

And some more about the ladies

A recent article about Zsirai Winery on Decanter

Zsirai Winery

A not so recent, but interesting article about Krisztina Machán-Csetve on The Canopy

https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/Canopy-Articles/how-i-used-social-media-to-build-a-fan-base.html

An article about Zita Kovács and Sol Montis on Glug magazine

https://www.beer52.com/glug/article/1179/sol-montis