Taschner and other producers

Stefánia Palace is a lovely event venue, and on 21 June it will host Sopron wine region and its wineries. The tasting will present a great opportunity to taste the iconic Kékfrankos wines of Sopron along with other important varieties, like Zenit. The entrance ticket is only 4000 HUF (around 10 EUR), so it is a steal!

Date and time: 21 June 2025, 17.00–21.00
Venue: Stefánia Palace, Stefánia road 34-36., Budapest, Hungary, 1143
Tickets are available here for 4000 HUF (around 10 EUR) in case of purchasing in advance and the price is 5000 HUF on the spot.
Exhibiting wineries: Bónis-Reitter, Sopron Kúria, Gangl Winery, Taschner Winery and Sparkling Wine House, Vincellér Wine Estate, Winelife Winery, Zachár Wine, Puklus Winery.
Wine bites will be available to purchase (not included in the entrance ticket).

Experimenting spirit

All the labels floating in the air in our cover photo are from Taschner winery run by Kurt István Taschner. Quite likely he is the only one to make varietal Pinot Meunier wine in Hungary, and also, he might be the only one using the variety called “Korai Piros Veltelini”. He obviously makes Kékfrankos, it is kind of obligatory in Sopron, in the city where for a while Blue Frank (meaning Kékfrankos) was a functioning currency. Zenit is a Hungarian variety to watch, Kurt makes a stunning sweet, late harvest wine of this grape. Irsai Olivér, the flamboyant aromatic wine of Hungary is always the first bottled wine of Taschner, and in 2024 it was chosen The Best New Vintage Wine of Hungary.

Read more about Taschner Winery and Sparkling Wine House

Some more articles about Taschner

 

“Wine course” in Sopron any time with Kurt István Taschner

Taschner Irsai Olivér 2024 from Sopron has arrived!

Taschner – a winemaker obsessed by beauty

Experimental spirit

Taste Feind Coupe Brut and hundreds of wines more

160 winery exhibitors, craft beers, artisan products, free jazz, rock and pop concerts, fireworks and parades. The stunning city of Szeged on the far east of Hungary boasts the probably the most significant open air wine event in Hungary. It is longer than the Budapest Wine Festival and it has more exhibitors than the 3-week-long Balatonfüred wine festival. The entrance is free, guests pay at the exhibitors for what they taste. It is the 28th edition, and since it is a really long wine fair of 11 days, even though it has already started, you can still participate! Take an Intercity train or drive (only 2 hours), enjoy the wine fair, and stay in one of the lovely hotels or guests houses of the historic and romantic city.

Date and time: 16–26 May 2024, the opening hours are quite flexible, just go there any time of the day…
Venue: Szeged, Dóm square and its neighbourhood, Hungary
How to get there: Take an Intercity train from Nyugati railway station in Budapest, it takes only 2.5 hours. By car it takes a bit less via M5 motorway.
Exhibitors: Large selection of craft beers, street food, artisan products and 160 wineries!
Some of the exhibitors: Bock Winery (Villány), Dúzsi Family Winery (Szekszárd), Eszterbauer Winery (Szekszárd), Etyeki Kúria (Etyek), Feind Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Frittmann Winery (Kunság), Gál Tibor Winery (Eger), Heimann Family Winery (Szekszárd), Holdvölgy (Tokaj), Koch Winery (Hajós–Baja / Villány), Lajver Wine Estate (Szekszárd), Pannonhalma Archabbey (Pannonhalma), Sauska (Tokaj / Villány), Szeleshát (Szekszárd), Tornai Winery (Somló), Tűzkő Wine Estate (Tolna), Vesztergombi Cellar (Szekszárd), Vylyan Vineyard and Winery (Villány)

See all the exhibitors here

Borfesztivál kiállítói

More about Feind Coupe Brut, the sparkling wine in our cover photo

More about the city of Szeged, where to stay, what to eat, what to see

Do you want to taste diverse wines and learn about them, but a wine school cannot be scheduled in your life? In this case a winery visit with a wide range of wines and with a patient “teacher” is a good option for you. Kurt István Taschner loves his homeland and he never runs out of stories about Sopron. Plus, we can find the whole “course material” in his cellar, from bottle fermented sparkling wines to natural sweet wines.

(Our cover photo is from Kurt’s Facebook-page, and we are happy to share it, since it is hard to find photos of him. Being a humble person in love of nature, he prefers taking photos of the stunning sunsets and gorgeous sunrises instead of selfies.)

Versatile indeed

The family vineyard is of 26 hectares, where mostly indigenous (Austro–Hungarian) grapes are grown: Kékfrankos (black), Zweigelt (black) and Zöldveltelini (Grüner Veltliner) (white). Have you heard of Frühroter Veltliner? Don’t worry, we haven’t heard of it either B.T. (Before Taschner). He also grows grapes that are known only in Hungary – though here they are very popular. The aromatic white Irsai Olivér is a good example. In cooler climate Irsai can be fresh, crispy, not overwhelmingly aromatic – this is the case with Kurt’s Irsai Olivér, which usually wins gold at the national “New Vintage” contest, and it is often the very first release of the new vintage in Hungary.

The slightly cool climate and the soil of lime stone is perfectly suitable for making traditional method sparkling wines. Taschner Brut is made only in exceptional vintages with base wine made of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The magnum and normal bottle above in our cover photo is Taschner Pinot Noir sparkling wine. He also makes red wine of international grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, what is more, he is one of the few winemakers who bottles in mini bottles (0.18 L). If you fly with Wizzair, you can taste his still Chardonnay on board (the label is quite French-like, but don’t let yourself be deceived).

And as we mentioned in the lead, he makes natural sweet wines as well, read about natural sweet Taschner Zenitbelow. Moreover, the icing on the cake: enjoy a strong but delicious ‘pálinka’ (our national, origin protected spirit) made of 100% grapes, like Irsai.

Wine tasting at Taschner Winery

Sopron is only one hour by train from Vienna, and 2.5 hours from Budapest. At the winery Kurt István Tascner offers two types of tasting package (the names are Swabian words connected to wine cellars).
– Poncichter tasting: 6 wine samples, mineral water, bread with olive oil. Price: 3900 HUF / person (10 euro)
– Buschenschank tasting: 6 + 2 wine samples (2 from the more exclusive and expensive wines), mineral water, bread with olive oil, cheese. Price: 5900 HUF / person (15 euro)

Book your visit here

The official website of the winery is under construction, meanwhile you can find more information here.

Poncichter, Bohnenzüchter – a recipe with a pinch of etymology

The “Beangrower” grapegrowers’ everyday meal

Taschner Zenit 2020 – a dessert by itself

Natural sweet Zenit with foie gras

The summer tasting has brought 69 medals

The OIV accredited German wine contest is important for Hungary, we always participate with quite a large number of wines. Last summer Hungary won 89 medals and earlier this year, at the winter tasting our country collected 104 medals. At the recent summer edition Hungary received “only” 69 medals, yet it ranks us to the 6th place out of 32 countries.
See more info about 9 of the gold winner wines below!

Szekszárd again

If we look at the wine regions (also called wine districts or sub-regions, the ones that we have 22), we can see a strong Szekszárd dominance, just like at the previous edition. Szekszárd collected 19 medals followed by 11 from Tokaj and 10 from Villány. Though each of the 6 Balaton sub-regions collected only a few medals, altogether Balaton gathered 11 medals.

Leader in Central Eastern Europe

Out of the 1623 medals (grand gold, gold or silver) Hungary is the absolutely in the top league with its 69 medals. 32 countries participated, and Hungary is the 6th in the ranking regarding the number of medals. The first is obviously Germany (404), then come the three ever-winning countries, Italy (393), Spain (223) and France (174) followed by Austria (86) and here comes Hungary with its 69 medals.

The other countries from the former Eastern bloc did not participate (Croatia, Slovenia) or sent only a few samples and won hardly any medals except for the Czech Republic with its 23 medals. Bulgaria (2), Romania (7), Serbia (2) and Slovakia (6) are barely visible, the usually active Moldova collected only 4 medals, just like Georgia with only 1, however Ukraine gathered 10 medals – the wines of this country must be taken more seriously.

The gold winner wines of our cover photo

Etyeki Kúria chief winemaker is one of the 50 best Hungarian winemakers and celebrating his 50th birthdaytoday. Probably 2 bottles of the 25th anniversary limited edition sparkling wine will work to raise the glasses…

Dear Sándor,

I would like to thank you for “teaching me Pinot Noir“. I was lucky enough to participate in a vertical Pinot tasting by Etyeki Kúria years ago, and a bit later I spotted their Pinot in a wine contest blind tasting without doubt. But not only international varieties turn into gold in his hands, under MSP (Mérész Sándor Project) he creates great experimental wines from Zenit and Királyleányka among others. Happy birthday to you!

25 + 25

Etyeki Kúria created a special méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine to commemorate the 25th anniversary in 2021. 25 months on the lees and only 2500 bottles were made – magic numbers on the fact sheet to toast on the past 25 years in the most stylish way.

Happy 25th birthday, Etyeki Kúria!

More about Etyeki Kúria winery

Fire Tower with Taschner Chardonnay Brut, Pálinka made of rare Turán grape, new wave of Sopron producers. Sopron is a wine region in the west of Hungary, neighbouring with Austria. Kékfrankos(Blaufrankisch) is the flagship variety, but Sopron producers seem to adore diversity.

Almost in heaven – Fire Tower with morning sparks

Kurt István Taschner is not only a winemaker. He is a passionate amateur photographer and he has a deep knowledge of Sopron history. We were more than lucky to have him as our guide in March during Hungarian Wine Summit, on our study tour in Sopron. He took us to the iconic building called Tűztorony (‘Fire Tower’), the symbol of the town. As he explained, the primarily role of the tower was to watch if there had been a fire, but the guards also watched if any barrels had been carried towards the town gates. It was forbidden to enter outlander wines, thus guards signalled if a carriage with barrels from outside attempted to enter. After the history lesson we went up the stairs (a lot of them…) and we could enjoy the breathtaking view with Taschner bottle fermented Chardonnay sparkling wine in our glass! Every year around 2000 bottles are made only, and made of 100% Chardonnay. The price is only around 12 euros. “Straw yellow colour with medium intensity. Subtle perlage. Lovely nose with excellent structure: ripened fruits, a touch of stone fruits, restrained yeasty character. Delicate mousse on the palate with balanced acidity.”

The Fire Tower + Taschner experience is not available for the public, but you can do one after the other. Visit Fire Tower, enjoy the view and then participate in a wine tasting with Kurt István Taschner!

More about Taschner Winery and Sparkling Wine Cellar

It is time to start your Hungarian wine adventures

Glug is a wine magazine available in the UK and in January Glug is all about Hungary: wine drinking habits, great wineries and great Hungarian wines to illustrate the knowledge gained from the articles! As the director of the publisher explained, they purchased 186 000 bottles to be sent with the 65 000 copies of the magazine, and “the reviews are going great”! If you are based in the UK, join Wine52 wine club now, and enjoy 3 bottles of Hungarian wines and some snacks while reading Glug. As for the wines, Wine52 offers exciting labels like Zenit from Sol Montis in volcanic Mátra. Signing up is easy, it takes a few minutes and the next day you can sip your Hungarian wines in your home.

Attention: the Hungarian pack is available only until the 1st of February.

Sign up here to get your free pack (only for UK based people, postage should be paid)

A wine writer’s best memories from the past quarter of a century

Etyeki Kúria has created a special méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine to commemorate the 25th anniversary. 25 months on the lees and only 2500 bottles were made – magic numbers on the fact sheet to toast on the past 25 years in the most stylish way. The birthday party took place two weeks ago, and since I am thousands of kilometres away, I could not participate. I would have loved to, first because Etyeki Kúria is a fabulous estate with trustworthy wines and character, secondly because my wine career is almost as old as this state-of-the-art winery. Therefore I want to wish happy birthday by recalling some of my best memories of Etyeki Kúria.

 

1. The founding couple, Mr and Mrs Ottrubay bought the first few hectares from the late Tibor Báthori (Winemaker of the Year 1992) in 1996. I graduated from college at that time, moved to Budapest and started to taste wines regularly. A few years later I went to Etyek Wine festival, which was a “beginner” event back then. I heard about Etyeki Kúria, but I was on foot and could not find it – so my first memory is just the desire to visit the cellar…

All we want in the heat of the summer is refreshment. Wines with bubbles are given by God to ease the sweaty hotness and make us fell better. Vylyan pét-nat, Giorgio Furmint (and Yellow Muscat) frizzante from Patricius in Tokaj, Paulus sparkling from the unknown Generosa, Béres aerated sparkling and an organic pét-nat from Kristinus.

Experiment of the experimental

Vylyan Vineyard and Winery has recently introduced its new chief winemaker, Sándor Tóth and the young professional presented two new products immediately. One is a higher category, barrel aged, complex, creamy rosé wine, while the other is pét-nat, the trendy, natural, unfiltered bubbly wine. The estate has released two pét-nat wines, a white made of Olaszrizling, Rhine Riesling and Chardonnay and a rosé from Pinot Noir, Kadarka, Kékfrankos and Merlot. Unlike the traditional pét-nat, Vylyan version is slightly different: they disgorged the bottles by hand. The result is a “naughty”, yet enjoyable white and rosé, both abundant in fruity flavours. Vylyan pét-nats are available only at Vylyan Terrace in Kisharsány (Villány)

More about Vylyan Vineyard and Winery

John Clarke British wine writer has published several great articles about Hungarian wines on Independent.co.uk. His latest piece presents 10 wines from all over the world for “summertime sipping”. Click here to see this great selection of wines – all available in the UK. The Hungarian one is a Zenit by Sándor Mérész, chief winemaker of Etyeki Kúria.

Striving for sustainability

As John Clark describes the estate, Etyeki Kúria is a winery where sustainable practices “include the use of solar power, the introduction of a special seed mix between the rows of vines and the use of lightweight glass bottles. A splendid summer wine with pear and stone fruit notes, it’s suitable for vegetarians and vegans and pairs remarkably well with a range of light summer dishes.”
The wine is available for 19.99 GBP in the UK on Hometipple.com.

An experimental project

The full name of the above mentioned wine is Etyeki Kúria MSP Zenit 2019.
– Etyeki Kúria is the name of the estate referring also to Etyek, the wine region also known as the “vineyard of Budapest”, since it is only a stone’s throw from the capital.
– In MSP “MS” stands for Mérész Sándor (Sándor Mérész, in Hungary we start with the surname), the chief winemaker of the estate, who makes an exciting, experimental line of wines within the portfolio, hence “P” for Project.

– Zenit stands for the grape variety, which gains more and more popularity in Hungary due to its versatility, excellent potential as a blending partner and other merits.
More about Etyeki Kúria wines

Read “10 best dry white wines for summertime sipping: From pinot grigio to chardonnay” by John Clarke

Some facts about Zenit

– Although Zenit is widely dispersed around Hungary, particularly in higher sites in Mátra, Eger and around Lake Balaton, the total area is less than 600 hectares.

– Zenit is a crossing between Bouvier and Ezerjó grapes created in Pécs Research Centre in Hungary by Ferenc Király in 1951, but it was officially recognized only in 1976. Thanks to its good abilities Zenit is getting more and more popular. In Bükk wine region some young pioneer winemakers take Zenit very seriously. Pécs Research Centre created a stunning bottle fermented sparkling wine out of Zenit last year. The wine is called Nadír 63.

– Wines are crisp with flavours of apple and citrus but not overly aromatic; the best examples are potentially long-lived and subtle with a mineral edge. (Excerpt From: Robinson, Jancis; Harding, Julia; Vouillamoz, Jose. “Wine Grapes”)