Wine exhibition with music? Michael Liszkay, the winemaker and pianist

His vineyard is really hard to find – which is another reason to hide there for a weekend from the problems of the world. Monoszló is a little village on the picturesque land north of lake Balaton, and Liszkay’s estate is over the end of the village – far far away. When you arrive, you are in a fairly tale, a stunning view awaits you from the wonderfully restored estate building, the swimming pool tempts with its blu water, or inside the fireside on cold evenings. But the best is – apart from the wines – the music. Michael Liszkay is a pianist, he spent all his life with his „ebony and ivory” friends, and whenever he gets close to a piano, he sits down to play.

Adventurous life

His music must come from his soul, from his adventurous life: ’Michael Liszkay left Hungary after his country’s revolution was brutally crushed by the all mighty Soviet Union. He settled in the Dutch city of Maastricht where he developed his skills on the piano and delved headfirst into his passion for the culinary arts. He then immigrated to Canada, where he spent several decades in British Columbia, amongst the Rocky Mountains and in Vancouver.

At the turn of the century, ripe with new experiences and re-awakened dreams, goals, ideas and ambitions, Michael’s restless spirit brought him back to his homeland. Touched by the Tuscan-like charm of the Káli Basin, he soon realized that he had arrived where he started, only to know the place for the first time. This globe-trotting man of the world found himself rooted in the picturesque Pangyér Slope, giving rise to a piece of „Hungarian Toscana”.

Wine exhibition with piano

Mihály Liszkay usually participates at the annual wine event VinCE Budapest Wine Show with his great red wines (his Pinot Noir is a must!), he will exhibit this year as well. However, he does not only exhibit, he usually walks around the five star exhibition venue until he finds a piano, and then he starts playing. Music at a professional wine event? The organizers first had wanted to stop him playing, but then, asking around it turned out that the soft piano tunes suited so well into the atmosphere, that they rather let him play.

So if you find a man playing the piano with a smile at VinCE Budapest, it will be Michael Liszkay, whose wines also deserve the attention!