Juliet Victor – brand new wines from Tokaj

If Hungarian wine people meet these days, one topic will surely occur: Juliet Victor. The invitations for the opening ceremony of this brand new winery in Mád (the most important village of Tokaj) were sent in August, and the opening ceremony was held in September. The name ‘Juliet Victor’ is a symbol of the essence of elegance and a commitment to the highest level of quality. József Váradi the founder and leader of Wizz Air, one of Europe’s most successful aviation enterprises, has provided the ultimate endorsement for this extraordinary wine. ‘Juliet Victor’ is a moniker from his own initials using the international phonetic alphabet while bringing to life the language of aviation: ‘J’ for Juliet and ‘V’ for Victor.

Flying turns the world into a better place 

“Juliet Victor is my mission ‘to return something’. We keep saying with my friends that life is too short to drink bad wine. I believe that Tokaj, and especially Mád has the potential to make wines to meet international standards. Prediction and intuition, exclusive and available – Juliet Victor includes all of these attributes. I am convinced that flying turns the world into a better place by providing the fundaments of happiness. Juliet Victor was born to bring happiness for all of us to enjoy, and the winery makes my personal life complete” – says József Váradi.

Flying is more than important in this company: Váradi’s co-owner is György Tóth, a pilot with probably the most flying hours in Hungary. As Váradi said in an interview of Forbes Hungary, they had started looking for vineyards in 2014. Villány wine region was an option, but then they decided to go for Tokaj, and its most precious vineyards in Mád. The owners (there is a third co-owner, a family company called Vaxco) were lucky enough because some of the greatest vineyards were for sale at that time (Király, Betsek).

Apricot with ginger and Juliet Victor Szamorodni

The menu of the opening ceremony was created by the world famous Hungarian chef Tamás Széll (Bocuse d’Or European champion) and Mátyás Szik sommelier (3 times Hungarian champion). Currently three winesare available at Juliet Victor, a Furmint, an Estate Furmint and a Szamorodni. This sweet Szamorodni was paired with baked-marinated apricot flavoured with ginger, caramellized honeyed bavarois, almond sponge cake and long pepper. As Sándor Németi, owner of WineArtCulture blog and guest of the event described, „some Tokaji Aszú of the same vintage (not available yet) was blended with this szamorodni, to maximize aromas and flavours. The result is a most complex wine both on the nose and the palate. It was a worthy closing wine of the ceremony and the menu.”

Juliet Victor Szamorodni

For this Szamorodni grape was hand harvested in several section with bunch selection. 50% of the bunches consist of botrytised shrivelled berries. Healthy and shrivelled berries were pressed together. Fermentation in wooden barrels, ageing in first use, light toasted barrique made by Kádár Hungary Ltd. (of local ‘Zemplén’ oak) for 12 months. Bottle ageing for an additional year.
Crystal clear golden colour with bright gold reflections. High viscosity, noble full body. Clear, developed, intense nose with sweet, luscious, vibrant apricot, savoury apple, silky vanilla, velvety white chocolate and discrete liquor notes – all of them appear in turn besides the botrytis typical of Tokaj wine region. Sweet palate with refreshing acidity. Candied citrus fruits, fully ripened apple and tea notes make the pleasure of the prolonged, exceptional taste more complex. Not only a wine with enchanting colour and stunning character, but with perfect elegance and long ageing potential.

To taste JV wines

Want to taste Juliet Victor wines? You can order them directly from their webshop