Thummerer Vili Papa Superior 2021, Eger

The flagship wine of the iconic winery is named after the founder, late Vilmos Thummerer, who was awarded Winemaker of the Year in 1995. Vili Papa (something like ‘Uncle Willy’) is a Bordeaux blend only in exceptional vintages, like 2021. Very dark ruby colour. The nose reveals ripened forest fruit, blackcurrant, tobacco, dark chocolate. Full bodied wine with ripened, integrated tannins and long aftertaste. Ideal with aged smoked cheese, venison dishes and matured beef plates. Long ageing potential.
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Tornai Premium Juhfark 2024, Somló

Jamie Goodie British wine writer has just tasted this Juhfark, and he was so impressed, he named Éva Dományházi, the commercial manager of the winery “Juhfark Girl”. Juhfark is the indigenous white grape of the volcanic Somló wine region, a true local hero. Its mature aroma is dominated by barrel notes, cinnamon, anise, and overripe fruity notes, with a background of apple and pear. On the palate, it is complex, full-bodied, and rich in flavours. The acids support the sip well, and the ripe fruits and minerality are in beautiful harmony with the refined barrel aromas. Its aftertaste is long and creamy. Suggested food pairings: A great choice to accompany Caesar salad, mildly spiced Indian cuisine, and grilled dishes.
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The Best Furmint

Tornai Top Selection Apátsági Furmint 2021, Somló (92 points)
(Out of 35 Furmint wines from 6 wine regions)
Crystal clear golden colour. Nose with ripened fruits–summer pear–and also with almonds, citrus fruit, vanilla and white flowers. Mineral notes, creamy texture, crispy acidity. Juicy, lovely palate and long finish.
The retail price is 6200 HUF / 15 EUR on the webshop of the winery.
More about the wine and Tornai Winery

The Best Kékfrankos

Etyeki Kúria Kékfrankos 2019, Sopron (92 points)
(Out of 22 Kékfrankos wines from 11 wine regions)
Lovely ruby colour. Ripened red fruits on the nose, mainly sour cherry and cranberries with some blackberries and dried leaves. Lighter body, velvety tannins. Soft, rounded, juicy, fruit driven wine. Long aftertaste. Well-done, great job!
The retail price on the webshop of the winery is only 4450 HUF and now with special offer only 3340 HUF / 8 EUR!
More about the wine and Etyeki Kúria

The Best Pinot Noir

(Pinot Noir, Kadarka and Syrah varietal wines were tasted in one panel tasting)
Garamvári Pinot Noir Premium Selection 2021, Boglárlelle (92 points)
(Out of 29 wines from 12 wine regions)
Clear, dark ruby colour with brownish tone. Attractive nose with a fruit basket: sour cherry, rose hip, cranberry. Also spices with some dried leaves. Crispy acidity, creamy texture, juicy, fruit driven, elegant wine with quite long aftertaste.
The retail price of the wine on the webshop of the winery is only 4200 HUF / 10 EUR.
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The Best Bordeaux Blend

Heumann Lagona 2018, Villány (93 points)
(Out of 66 wines from 12 wine regions)
Clear, shiny ruby colour. Intense nose with ripened blueberry, sour cherry, some tobacco, spices, chocolate and dried leaves along with a touch of wood. Exciting, charming palate, serious body, subtle tannins. Fruity and spice. Long aftertaste abundant in chocolate. Right at its peak.
The retail price of the wine at the winery is only 3900 HUF / 9.5 EUR.
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The Best Bikavér

Thummerer Egri Bikavér Grand Superior Nagy-Eged 2021 (93 points)
(Out of 18 wines from the two Bikavér wine regions, Eger and Szekszárd)
Very dark ruby colour. Intense, matured nose with black berry fruits, spices, coffee, chocolate, a pinch of wood, dried leaves and some buttery tones. Oily texture, velvety tannins, juicy-fruity palate. Very long fruity and spicy finish.
The retail price on the webshop of the winery is 6299 HUF / 15 EUR.
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The Best Tokaj Noble Sweet Wine

Balassa Villő Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos 2019, Tokaj (96 points)
(Out of 27 wines from Tokaj wine region)
Dark golden colour. Complex nose with countless aromas: summer pear, raisins, apricot, mint, honey, butter. Mineral notes, creamy texture, vibrant acidity. Very well-balanced sugar–acidity, a lot of tropical fruits on the palate with minerality and buttery notes. A very long finish.
The retail price of the wine at the winery is 43 000 HUF / 104 EUR.
More about the wine and Balassa estate

The name GROW – easy to remember and pronounce – has quickly become synonymous with the variety. Beginning this year, Rizling Generáció allows it on wine labels as a synonym for the variety. Two Hungarian wineries now have GROW on their labels – Zelna (young Olaszrizling) and Jász Laci (amber). “We could have imagined at the beginning that GROW would grow so fast, that it would gather all these great people around the idea of a big variety, but that GROW would become the official synonym of one of the possible names in one country – no one had thought of. Well, now it happened in Hungary,” shared Luković. ”GROW is growing!”

GROW 2024’s champions 

Young: Vino Gaube Laški Rizling 2023 (Slovenia)
Aged: Vinařtsví No. 44 Dunajovský Vlašák Pašák 2022 (Czech Republic)
Sweet: Galić Graševina Mateo Izborna berba 2018 (Croatia)
Amber: Vina Joannes Natura 2021 (Slovenia)
Blend: Figula Winery Olasz & Furmint 2021 (Hungary)

Medals Awarded by Country

Hungary: 8 platinum, 48 gold, 54 silver, 47 bronze
Croatia: 1 platinum, 13 gold, 18 silver, 20 bronze
Czech Republic: 3 platinum, 7 gold, 5 silver
Italy: 1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
Serbia: 1 platinum, 7 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze
Slovakia: 1 platinum, 5 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
Slovenia: 3 platinum, 1 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze

A few of Hungarianwines’ partners poured their wines at the tasting held May 31 at Balatonfüred Congress Center.
Below are notes about a few of the wines.

Sabar Olaszrizling Birtokbor (Estate) 2022, Badacsony (*sample provided by GROW)
Fresh, fun, and fab – this is summer in a bottle

The Olaszrizling for this wine comes from 4 locations in Badacsony, including Bács and Sabar Hills. The juice from these succulent grapes is fermented in stainless steel, then the wine aged in stainless and oak – creating a flavor explosion of zesty citrus, juicy peach, and a smidge of honey. Enjoy this with lighter fare like salads and grilled fish – or better yet, on its own, hanging out with friends.
Awarded GROW du Monde Silver, Aged Wines.

More about Sabar Wine House

Tornai Premium Olaszrizling Somló 2022
This wondrous white from Hungary’s smallest wine region struts its stuff
This Platinum award winner shows off the elegant, harmonious, and sophisticated side of Olaszrizling. The grapes are handled with kid gloves – gentle pressing, fermentation in stainless steel and oak barrels, then short-term aging in oak and bottle – resulting in a white replete with aromas and flavors of citrus, pears, and peaches – a brilliant pas de deux of bright acidity and Somlói minerality. Pair this with hors d’oeuvres, salads, soft cheeses, and fish dishes.

Awarded GROW du Monde Platinum, Aged Wines
More about Tornai Winery

Download the 2024 results at this link.

The Czech Republic will host GROW 2025.

Start the New Year in a sporty way

Somló is a magic land, the volcanic mountain looks as if it were astray from its mates on the North shore of Lake Balaton. While Badacsony and the other witness mountains are close to each other, Somló is more remote, and it stands out of the flat scenery like a lonely hat. The wines are unique, their minerality is astonishing, and Somló wines are easy to recognise due to their unmistakable “Somló character”. Juhfark is the most important grape almost exclusively grown here, but Furmint, Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű and Tramini are also popular here.
Tornai Winery invites winelovers to start the year with a hike in the vineyards where all the magic happens. The hike starts at 1 pm, it takes approximately 3 hours, it is free and the group will be led by Éva Dományházi from Tornai Winery, a lovely lady whose smile will help you get the top of the mountain. She will provide some wine and ‘pogácsa’ (a typical Hungarian salty, delicious pastry)
If you are interested, contact Éva!
Phone her: +36 70 339 9896 or email to her

“Golden Tear Drops”

Aranykönny (meaning Golden Tear Drops) is the only sweet wine of Tornai Winery with 82.5 g/L residual sugar,balanced with a refreshing 7.7 g/L acidity. It is made of Zeusz grape, an indigenous Hungarian variety. “Crystal clear golden colour with high viscosity in the glass. It is the message that we have something unique in the bottle. The clean medium intensity nose is not intrusive. White flowers, blossoms and petals but there is the peach and mineral character also. On the palate the sweet sip is framed with high acidity and medium alcohol and body. The promised notes by the nose are completed with peach and candied lemon and lemon peel. In the medium length aftertaste, there is orange oil as well.”
About Zeusz grape variety: It is crossing between Ezerjó and Bouvier, introduced by Ferenc Király at the University of Pécs, Hungary in 1951. Its other name is Badacsony 10 (Zengő, another crossing made by him is called Badacsony 8, and Zenit is also a Ferenc Király crossing, so he seems to like the letter Z…)

Find Aranykönny on Tornai webshop

Eszterbauer Grand 2017 – grandiose indeed

The red blend of Eszterbauer Winery continues is glorious march of gold medals and “best of shows”. Among other acknowledgements it won great gold at Berliner Wine Trophy, it was the best red wine of Winelovers Wine Awards and now it received the highest scores among the gold winner Hungarian wines. Grand is a comminty blend of Szekszárd (like Szekszárdi Bikavér). It has to be a blend of the top lots of a winery, from only exceptional vintages, bottled in a bottle designed especially for Grand wines. As for the grapes, Grand should contain at least 25% Kékfrankos (Blaufrankisch), and regarding the ageing 5 years is the minimum.

More about Eszterbauer Winery

Triple gold by Feind Winery

The family estate of Balatonfüred–Csopak wine region has been going through an overall revival. Development of all the facilities, installing state-of-the-art machinery – some wine processing untilities are seen in Hungary only at Feind Winery –, building modern and attractive tasting room are some of the most important parts of the new era. The installation of “new hardware” is quickly followed by international success: The Wine Society in United Kingdom listed Feind Olaszrilizling and the wine has become a big hit in the UK, and Feind Winery has been collecting more and more gold medals. The winery places strong focus on sparkling wines, a whole plantation is dedicated to charmat and traditional method sparkling wines. At this Mundus Vini Spring Tasting 3 Feind wines won gold medal:
– Feind Cabernet Franc 2019
– Feind The Reason 2019
– Feind Coupé Extra Dry

More about Feind Winery

Tornai – a usual player at the top

Tornai Winery in volcanic Somló wine region is indeed a regular winner of international wine contests, it is enough to mention the IWC Trophies in 4 consecuive years. Their impeccable and complex white wines made of mostly indigenous grape varieties impress both winelovers and wine experts. At Mundus Vini Spring Edition 23 both Hungarian dry white gold medals are taken home by Tornai. The two winners are:
– Tornai Top Selection Grófi Hárslevelű 2019
– Tornai Top Selection Szürkebarát 2015 (Szürkebarát is the Hungarian name of Pinot Gris)
Both winner wines are great examples of the long ageing potential of white wines of Somló.

More about Tornai Winery

About Mundus Vini Spring tasting 2023

The Grand International Wine Award took place for the 32nd time at the end of February. With a total of more than 7,500 wines tasted over a total of 6 days, the results once again offer an excellent overview of the current wine qualities and this in time for the world’s leading trade fair ProWein in Düsseldorf, which takes place in mid-March.

See all Hungarian medal winners

Sheep’s tail – a grap for acid lovers

Juhfark is definitely the number one grape variety of the volcanic Somló. It takes its name from the sheep’s tail, as the long cylindrical shape of the bunches resemble the sheep’s tail. It is often cited as the ‘wines of the wedding-night’,since it was believed to help when a couple had been longing for a son.

Juhfark is rather neutral, restrained nose with some flowers and green apples. High, sometimes brutal acidity. It is really difficult to tame this variety, but there are amazing examples of it in history! If you are not afraid of straightforward acidity, take a chance on it. In Somló, the minerality paired with high acidity results some outstanding wines with great aging potential.

The spirit of the mountain

We have a national spirit with protected origin, it is ‘pálinka’. Pálinka has to be made of 100% fruit or grape marc. At Tornai Winery we can taste the famous Juhfark in “spiritual manifestation”, because they make Juhfark Szőlőpálinka(‘szőlőpálinka’ means ‘grape pálinka’). For the enthusiasts of rare varieties it is a great experience to taste Juhfark as a wine and as a pálinka. You will recognize the delicate aromas in the spirit, guaranteed!

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Volcanic wonders

The Vertical Juhfark tasting will probably be one of the highlights of the event, though the Juhfark versus Volcanic Classics seems to be an attractive tasting as well. The former one displays the International Wine Challenge Trophy winner Tornai wines presented by the owner, Tamás Tornai, while the latter one is going to be an interactive tasting led by Attila Fiáth.

Bed, plate, wheel, energy

The day before and after the hosting winery, Tornai awaits guests for vineyard tours, wine dinners, cellar visits and much more. Tornai Winery has a restaurant and some rooms to stay, thus it is an ideal basis for the weekend. Plus they have bicycles to rent, and in October in Hungary the weather is still suitable for cycling. Also, if you have an electric car, you can charge it at Tornai Cellar.

Bus transfer is provided from Budapest (4900 HUF).

For more information write to marketing@tornaipince.hu.

More about Juhfark grape

– Regions: Juhfark is grown almost exclusively in the small volcanic hill of Somló, a small amount in Balatonfüred.

– Character: Rather neutral, restrained nose with some flowers and green apples. High, sometimes brutal acidity. It is really difficult to tame this variety, but there are amazing examples of it in history! If you are not afraid of straightforward acidity, take a chance on it. In Somló, the minerality paired with high acidity results some outstanding wines with great aging potential.

– Story: Juhfark takes its name from the sheep’s tail, as the long cylindrical shape of the bunches resemble the sheep’s tail. It is often cited as the ‘wines of the wedding-night’, since it was believed to help when a couple had been longing for a son.