The new year has started off sometimes gloomy, sometimes sunny, but with unseasonably mild weather. Not only does the weather allow for excursions and hiking, but it also feels really good to get out and explore our wine regions, leaving the laziness of the holiday season behind.
"Our passion is barrel making" says master cooper Gábor Kalina, who works with his team in a workshop in Mád, and behind the scenes is also doing his part to ensure the success of wines from the Tokaj Wine Region. As Hungary is one of the leading international players in the world of barrel making, we chose to interview a Hungarian craftsman to give a brief insight into the beautiful but challenging world of cooperage.
ProWein Düsseldorf is the world's largest trade fair for wines and spirits, attended by more than 5,000 exhibitors from 62 countries and 38,000 trade visitors from all over the world in 2022. Following a long-standing tradition, Hungary will again participate as an exhibitor at the 27th ProWein Düsseldorf in 2023.
We love it, we cherish it, we are proud to have a bottle or two in our cellar, wine cooler or cabinet, waiting and waiting for the right occasion. Occasions come and go, and we never open our precious Tokaji Aszú. But why not? After all, although it is one of the most nobles of wines, Aszú is also a wine born for pleasure and enjoyment, to become the crowning glory of our festive evenings, the ideal companion of our most beautiful days. It is good to possess it, but to taste it is bliss. It would be a pity to deprive ourselves of this pleasure.
Harvest is in full swing all over the country, including in the vineyards of the Mátra Wine District. To give an overview of the work in progress, we took a peek behind the curtain - and the harvesting crates - of Nagygombos Winery, with the help of the face of the winery, Anna Barta. With her one-year-old daughter Rózi on her arm, she greeted our little team with a smile on the first day of the harvest, even though this year has been even more challenging than usual...
When thinking of wine-growing areas close to the capital, the Kunság Wine District might not be the first one that comes to mind for most. This is perhaps surprising, given that a northern part of this region was in the limelight just a few years ago, with the Wine Producer of the Year hailing from Csepel Island, but there is another corner of the district, even further north, which deserves much more attention, and this is Monor and its surroundings, just 30 kilometres from Budapest.
The award ceremony of the 41st National Wine Competition (OBV) was held in Budapest on 31st August, announcing and awarding producers of the top-rated Hungarian wines. This year, 232 wineries from 22 wine districts entered a total of 824 wines in the competition. The most successful winery with 3 grand gold medals and 2 gold medals proved to be Pajzos Tokaj from the Tokaj Wine Region. The awards were handed over by István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture and Ottó Légli, President of the National Council of Wine Communities (NCWC), the interbranch organisation of Hungarian wine producers and vine growers, organiser of the Wine Competition.
