10 great wines to remember, #3

Towards the end of the year, we look back to some of the great wine moments we have enjoyed. All the 10 wines we will list until New Year’s Eve are special for some reason and they are all worth buying, multiple bottles, if you can afford. (The order is NOT a ranking.)
(Cover picture background was painted by Emma Katalin Dobos)

 

Tűzkő Domb is the gem, the flagship wine of the estate. The carefully selected grape comes from Mórágy vineyards. A blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc aged in Hungarian oak barrel for 18 months. “Deep ruby red color that suggests elegance at first glance. The nose reveals complex fruitiness and delicate spiciness: sour cherry, red berries, tobacco leaf and a hint of earthy, peppery character give it a rich aroma. A balanced, sophisticated red wine with substance and style.”
It pairs perfectly with venison, game, red meat, long seasoned cheeses, chocolate and sour cherry desserts. Serving temperature: 16-18 °C.
The retail price is now only around 17 EUR!

 

Tűzkő Estate website and webshop

Read more about Tűzkő Estate

Wine of the Week: Tűzkő Kékfrankos Selection

Tűzkő Kékfrankos 2022 – a price-value champion

With 1063 entries at the 4th edition, Winelovers Wine Awards have become the largest wine competition organized in Hungary. Samples came from 13 countries, 8 wines received grand gold medal, six from Hungary, one from Romania and one from Italy. Taste the top 100 Hungarian wines (and many more) of the contest in a grandiose event on 27 September in the 5-star Corinthia Hotel Budapest.

New category this year: “Retail”

This year the contest has added a new category, the “retail wines”, sponsored by Auchan. Tűzkő Kékfrankos 2022 from Tolna wine region received gold medal (90 points) and costs only 1850 HUF / 4.75 EUR in retail, which makes it a real champion in the price race. Destemmed grape from Mőcsény vineyard fermented in stainless steel tanks at 28 °C, under controlled temperature, and it was pressed after malolactic fermentation. The wine aged in 2nd and 3rd use barrels for 8 months. The wine has ruby colour, the intensive, attractive nose is abundant in cherry, rose pepper and red pepper notes. Vibrant palate, subtle tannins and long, fruity aftertaste.

More about Tűzkő Estate

Are you interested? Contact Bulcsú Ősi commercial manager.

About the event

Date and time: 27 September 2025, 14.00–21.00
Venue: Corinthia Hotel Budapest, 43–47 Erzsébet krt, Budapest, Hungary
Message from the organizers: “Do you agree with the professional jury’s decision?
See for yourself on September 27 at the Winelovers 100 Grand Tasting, where we will bring you all of the wines that made it into the top 100!”
More information and exhibitors’ list
Tickets: 15 900 HUF / 40 EUR in advance (not too much time left) or 18 900 HUF / 48.5 EUR on the spot
Buy your ticket here (in Hungarian) or contact the organisers here.

An article about the premium Kékfrankos of the estate

Did you know, that Marchese Piero Antinori is one of the owners of Tűzkő?

Wine of the Week: Tűzkő Kékfrankos Selection

35 wine exhibitors, plus gin, rum, pálinka

Hungarian and Italian wineries present their wines in a tasting on the stunning Margaret Island, in the green heart of Budapest. The entrance is free, but only for members of the wine trade. Places are limited, if you are a sommelier, restaurant manager, wine bar representative or alike, register now!

“Winelovers X is an industry matchmaking event between wineries, Winelovers Wine Awards Jury’s buyers/professionals and Hungarian on-trade & off-trade wine players. During this exclusive tasting event, which is only available for relevant people, business opportunities emerge, supplier contracts are signed.”

Date and time: 30 June, 15.00–19.00
Venue: Ensana Thermal Margarete Island 4-star superior
Hungarian wine exhibitors of our cover photo: Bock Winery (Villány), Garamvári Vineyards (Balaton /Etyek–Buda), Tűzkő Estate (Tolna)
For registering the event, send an email to here with your name, workplace, position and phone number.
Want to exhibit your wine? Get in touch with Winelovers sales here.
See all the exhibitors here

Margarete Island

Ensana Thermal Hotel is located in the “green heart” of Budapest, in Margarete Island, on the river Danube. It is ideal for early morning runners, and there is a little zoo nearby, the so called “Musical Fountain” is worth finding just like the ruins of Princess Margaret’s little castle.

Read more about the island here

The wineries from our cover photo

Bock Estate

Garamvári Vineyard

Tűzkő Estate

7 facts about this not-so-easy-to-pronounce grape variety

Why does Tűzkő Estate use the German name on the label, even though it is so hard to pronounce? Well, we were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German language is close to us. And, do you think the Hungarian word would be easier to say?

 

1) Gewürtztraminer is Fűszeres Tramini in Hungarian, meaning “Spicy Tramini”. We also use the term Piros Tramini or we call it simply Tramini.

2) Gewürztraminer was first mentioned under this name by the German university gardener Johann Christian Metzger in 1827 as a rare variety from the Rheingau (source: Wein.Plus).

3) Traminer and Gewürztraminer are close relatives, but they are not identical. The main difference is that Gewürztraminer has more of the spicy musk note (musqué). “One of the most headily and distinctively aromatic varietals of all with strong lychee flavours and high alcohol levels.” (Excerpt from Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz.)

4) Gewürztraminer is the most planted variant of Traminer. It is grown in France (mostly in Alsace), Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and obviously in Hungary. And it is also grown as far as some states of the US (California, Oregon, Washington. Michigan, New York), and also in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa – and guess what, in Japan and Israel.

5) Rose petals, lychees, bitter orange, marzipan and the above-mentioned musk are the most typical notes of a Gewürtztraminer. Usually, it is full bodied and quite high in alcohol. In good years with proper yield-control it has a significant ageing potential.

6) Tűzkő Estate is located in Tolna wine region, owned by the Italian Antonori and Mazzei families. It is one of the few recommended wineries under the title Gewürztraminer in the book called Wine Grapes. The grape for their Tűzkő Gewürtztraminer 2023 came from Bátaapáti and Mőcsény vinayards. The carefully selected bunches were destemmed and soaked for 6–8 hours, pressed gently and then fermented in stainless steel tanks at 16 °C for 12–14 days. The alcohol is moderate here for the variety, only 12.5%. Acidity: 6 g/l, residual sugar: 5.9 g/L. Intense peach, tangerine, grapefruit and rose petals. Lovely to drink.
Now for only 1000 HUF (less than 3 EUR) from the winery webshop!

7) In a recent post Tűzkő paired Gewürztraminer with Mediterranean chicken, since it “goes perfectly with the wine enhancing its flavours, plus it is a truly summer dish”. The chicken is marinated in olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice, then roasted until golden with some rosemary and garlic. Garnished with grilled vegetables or couscous.

Read more about Tűzkő Estate

Tűzkő Estate

Tűzkő wines are available in several countries. If you are interested in importing Tűzkő wines, contact Bulcsú Ősi director of sales and marketing.

 

An earlier article about Dr Árpád Erdélyi estate manager

Wine of the Week: Tűzkő Kékfrankos Selection

 

Exotic Wine Travel founder and co-owner, Dr. Matthew Horkey is a frequent visitor in Hungary, what is more, he and his partner, Charine Tan are working on a new book on Hungary called Discover Hungarian Wines. Matthew and Charine participated in Borjour Magnum, the largest indoor tasting of Hungary, and now Matthew posted the 5 white and 5 red wines he liked the most. Tűzkő Cabernet Franc 2015 is one of his discoveries: “The Tűzkő estate is a project of the famous Italian family, Antinori. They produce good value-for-money wines in the lesser-known district of Tolna. The Tűzkő Cabernet Franc is a riper style with black olive, cherry, and pepper notes. The tannins are chewy and this could develop further with bottle age. All in all, it’s impressive for a wine that can be found in supermarkets. Score: 89/100“.

Find the other 9 recommendations by Matthew Horkey

More about Tűzkő Estate

Download our free map of Hungarian wine regions