The 5 finalists are announced

This award is considered to be the most prestigious Hungarian award by many experts, because the winemakers themselves choose the best one. First the previous award winners nominated, thus we received a list of 50 top winemakers. Then the voting period took place, the 50 nominated winemakers voted for their favourite among them.

On Monday (17 April) the organizers announced the top 5: Sarolta Bárdos (Tokaj Nobilis, Tokaj), Frigyes Bott (Bott Winery, Garam wine region, Slovakia), Zoltán Heimann (Heimann, Szekszárd), István Ipacs Szabó (earlier Vylyan, Villány, now Pécs University Wine Estate), Zsolt Liptai (Pannonhalma Archabbey Winery). Except for Frigyes Bott all of the finalists have already been in the top 5, and Frigyes Bott has been among the 50 best several times. You might be surprised at the home country of this latter producer: why is Slovakia included? The answer is simple: the award is for Hungarian winemakers not only living within the borders of Hungary, but also for Hungarian winemakers living in other countries of the Carpathian Basin.
Now the 50 winemakers will vote again, they will decide who gets the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”-like star on the pavement of Zrínyi street in Budapest. Announcement of the winner: 21 April.

See the previous winners here

Let us introduce one of the finalists: Zoltán Heimann

If you hear him speaking, you might think he is an opera singer or at least an actor. Capturing voice and polished way of speech. Zoltán Heimann is undoubtedly one of the most educated and sophisticated wine people with a passion for art. Certainly it would not qualify him among the best ones, but Heimann Family Estate has become a leading estate of our country with wines like the icon Barbár. Zoltán Heimann places extreme emphasis on local grapes like Kékfrankos – Alte Reben Kékfrankos is a great example –, and he made immense efforts to put Kadarka grape back to the wine map of Hungary. He regularly organized conferences, workshops and planted an experimental vineyard to select the best clones of Kadarka. At the same time, he is open to the varieties of the world, he introduced Viognier and Sangrantino in Szekszárd wine region – this latter one contributes to the blend of Franciscus.

Read more about Heimann Family Estate