Hungarian Circle of Winewriters’ Super 12 lists announced

The news of national and international wine competitions are all over the place, and perhaps even the non-wine-geeks have learned that winning a gold medal in a wine competition is not like winning a gold medal in sport. While only one swimmer can win the 200 backstroke, a wine competition can produce more than a hundred gold medals, none of them shines more than the others. By contrast, the Circle of Hungarian Winewriters’ top list each year includes 12 white and 12 red wines – no more, no less – and these are blind-tasted to award the Hungarian Wine Grand Prix in white and red. Plus, the top of the top is called the Kosárka Memorial Award, which goes to Kovács Nimród Winery of Eger this year – their wine in the Super 12 list is the legendary Sky Furmint.
The full list is below, and the awards ceremony will take place at the Grand Fehérvár Tasting on 11 January.

Pannon and Balaton wines take the lead

Hungary’s 22 wine regions are grouped in 6 broader wine regions. This year, the winewriters selected the most wines from the Pannon broader wine region (Villány, Szekszárd, Tolna and Pécs) and the Balaton broader wine region (6 wine regions around Lake Balaton), six from each region. Next is the Upper Pannon wine region (Sopron, Mór, Etyek, Neszmély and Pannonhalma) with 5 wines, followed by Tokaj with 4. The Upper Hungary wine region (Eger, Mátra and Bükk) is represented with 3 wines.

The winners of the 2024 top list, the legends:
– White wine: Bott Pince Csontos 2021, Tokaj
– Red wine: St. Andrea Vineyard Agapé 2019, Eger
Dr. József Kosárka was the founder and president of the Hungarian Wine Writers’ Association until his death in 2022. The prize, established in his memory, is awarded to the winery with the most entries from winewriters. This year there were several wineries with the same number of nominations, so after the blind tasting, the Circle held another vote and the 2024 Kosárka Memorial Award went to the Kovács Nimród Winery from Eger.
This is the third time in the history of the award that a winery from Eger has won the prize, after Thummerer Winery in 2022 and St. Andrea Vineyard in 2023.
More about Kovács Nimród Winery

Super 12 white wines

To see how the wines are selected, scroll down

• Balassa Kakas Furmint 2022, Tokaj
• Bott Csontos 2021, Tokaj
• Cseri VI. Sextus Rajnai Rizling Selection 2022, Pannonhalma
• Dóka Éva Zalai Hárslevelű Késői Szüret 2021, Zalai borvidék
• Figula Sóskút Olaszrizling 2023, Balatonfüred–Csopak
• Gilvesy Tarányi Rajnai Rizling 2020, Badacsony
• Gizella Barát Hárslevelű 2023, Tokaj
• Holdvölgy Vision 2020, Tokaj
• Kovács Nimród Winery Sky Furmint 2021, Eger
• Miklóscsabi Csoda Ezerjó 2023, Mór
• Spiegelberg Nagy-Somlói Hárslevelű 2021, Somló
• Zelna Farkó-kő Olaszrizling 2021, Balatonfüred–Csopak

Super 12 red wines

To see how the wines are selected, scroll down

• 2HA Courage 2019, Badacsony
• Dominium Grand Feketeleányka 2022, Mátra
• Etyeki Kúria Pinot Noir 2021, Etyek
• Garger Vaskeresztesi Kékfrankos Válogatás 2021, Sopron
• Gere Attila Villányi Franc Ördögárok 2020, Villány
• Heimann Syrah Válogatás 2021, Szekszárd
• Jackfall Villányi Franc 3H 2019, Villány
• Mészáros Grandiozus Malbec 2022, Szekszárd
• Pósta Amfórás Kadarka 2022, Szekszárd
• Sebestyén Iván-völgyi Bikavér 2020, Szekszárd
• St. Andrea Agapé 2019, Eger
• Steigler Prémium BIO Syrah 2021, Sopron

How Super 12 lists are created

The list of twice 12 is drawn up every year by the members of the Circle in several rounds, at the initiative of Dr. József Kosárka, according to his method. First, each member names 3-3 memorable white and red wines from that year, and then the members vote in the next round, but no one can vote for their own nominees in this round. Once the shortlist has been narrowed down, the winewriters vote again, with no further restrictions, and vote until the scores are tallied to produce two lists of 12.
The top-listed wines are judged by the experts at a blind tasting, which took place on 22 December 2024 at Borlabor restaurant in Budapest. The two wines with the highest scores will receive the Hungarian Wine Grand Prix.

More about the Hungarian Circle of Winewriters