Villány Red Wine Festival on 4–6 October is one of the most popular harvest festivity in Hungary. The event is held in several squares of Villány (south of Hungary, approximately 3 hours from Budapest), free music concerts and kids’ programmes are provided. There is a small entrance free (1500 HUF / 5 euros on Friday, 2000 HUF / 6 euros on Saturday and free on Sunday), but the wines are to be paid directly at the booths of the wineries. Around 30 exhibiting wineries, for example Bock Cellar, Csányi Winery with Teleki wines, Gere Attila Winery, Gere Tamás and Zsolt Winery, Sauska, VinArt (by Koch Winery) and Vylyan. The main feature, the colourful harvest march takes place on the 5th October at 5 pm. The small town of Villány is usually fully booked at the time of the festival, thus if you want to participate, it is strongly advised to book a hotel room in advance. Gere Tamás & Zsold winery runs ’Diófa panzió’ (’Walnut tree pension’), a cosy, familiar place to stay. If you stay there, you can be sure to meet one of the members of the family. As Zsolt Gere said: „We decided to run a smaller scale guesthouse instead of a hotel, partially so that we can concentrate on the tasks with the wines, and also because we want to serve our guests personally, and with this size (9 double rooms) it is possible.”
The website of the Red Wine Festival is in Hungarian, if you need help, contact us at info@hungarianwines.eu

Event website

’Diófa panzió’ website

Portugieser grape variety has nothing in common with Port (in fact the ancient name of the variety, Oporto was taken away by EU in favour of the Portugese wine), Portugieser is a thin skinned, sensitive grape giving ligther, fruity wines for everyday consumption, but in very able hands Portugieser can give outstanding wines as well.

Zoltán Győrffy, chief organizer of the annual Portugieser competition believes in the variety, and his endeavor is rewarding: this year (the 7th contest) 100 wines will be evaluated from 6 countries by the international jury with members from 10 nations. The award ceremony will take place in the city of Pécs, on 27 April, at the University of Pécs, and winelovers will have the chance to taste the silver and gold winning wines, plus many other wines of the champion winemakers.

Location: University of Pécs KPVK Aula, Szántó Kovács János street 1, Pécs, Hungary

Date: 27 April, 15.00–20.00, Tickets: 3000 HUF (10 euros)

Tickets online

A stubborn guy – and a gold winner from last year

Bock Porta Géza Portugieser Jammertal Selection 2017 fromVillány is a gold winner from last year’s contest, and is a good example to show what Portugieser is capable of: full bodied, spicy, exciting. But the name is also story telling! József Bock, the owner of Bock Cellar is a character, indeed. Though he is in the age when people usually get retired, he is active and manages the huge estate with strong arms and clear visions. And there are things he cannot accept, for example the verdict of European Union which banned the name Oportó. József Bock simply could not get used to the new name, so he is not willing to name his wine Portugieser, instead he put „Porta Géza” on the label, which sounds a little bit like Portugieser, but it is rather a fictional first name and surname of a person. And here is how the wine is made: „A Portugieser from the Jammertal vineyard, bottled following fermentation and six months of maturation in wooden casks. The longer maturing period extends the wine’s lifetime. Crimson in colour with shades of purple, with velvety acids, fruity in flavour while cherry aromas appear in its bouquet. A more complex, spicier wine than is customary in a Portugieser.”

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