07 February 2022 / Sue Tolson
A great way to meet winemakers and taste their wines with them, and you don’t even have to move from Budapest. A regularly weekly event at the VinoPiano natural and organic wine bar in the 9th district, this month you can meet Géza Galán from Vaskapu on the 9th, Bálint Losonci from the Mátra on the 16th and the Unger Wine Manufacture from Sopron on 23rd. Prior registration necessary at vnpn.borkostolo@gmail.com
The popular wine bar in Pécs also organises regular tastings with winemakers, and there is a packed programme in February too. Enjoy “Tasting with Ricsi” on 10 February and Judit Bodó from the Bott Cellar in Tokaj on 17 February. Register at eleven.bor.tapas@gmail.com
Cold, wintry weather calls for a mug of mulled wine in hand and something hearty to eat. If you’d like to enjoy some of the products of the traditional winter pig slaughter, you could do worse than set off to Tokaj where you can enjoy roast pork and sausages as well as a selection of mulled wine and palinka. Although there are plenty of other things to tempt you at the Tokaj mulled wine and pork festival, such as chimney cake, traditional sweets, cheese, strudel, candy floss, games, wicker work products and a garage sale.
You may need to speak Hungarian to get the best out of this evening at the Gerbeaud Café, where three female winemakers, Stéphanie Berecz (Tokaj Kikelet Winery - Tokaj), Mónika Debreczeni (Vylyan Winery – Villány) and Bori Konyári (IKON Winery /Késa Birtok - South Balaton) present their wonderful wines personally while participants can taste six different finger food and wine pairings. The evening's mood will be set by the reflections of Béla Hamvas's The Philosophy of Wine and texts by Sándor Márai, interpreted by Zoltán Seress (Jászai Mari Prize winner). And after the eighty-minute performance, there will be a walkaround tasting of the wines and you can chat to the winemakers and ask any questions that have gone unanswered.
The first of the BORIGO team’s new event series aims to combine a wine dinner with their usual happy hour walkaround tasting in the atmospheric Winescape cellar. This first evening will consist of a guided tasting of hams and cheeses with paired with botrytised wines, followed by a walkaround tasting of sweet wines – late harvest, Szamorodni, Aszú. Reservations in advance at borbar@winescape.hu
Given that it is February and the month of Furmint, lovers of the variety should head to its spiritual home, Tokaj, or more precisely to the Oroszlános Wine Hotel and Estate in Tállya, where there is the unique opportunity to taste Tokaj Furmints together with the winemakers. Why is it a unique opportunity? You’ll be blind tasting the Furmints brought along by participating winemakers with the aim of finding the best Tokaj Furmint! Furmint ORIGO // 02.19. | Facebook Prior registration required at info@oroszlanos.hu.
One of the biggest events of the Budapest wine tasting calendar. Borjour’s yearly tasting at the Novotel, Budapest Congress Centre, will this year feature over 220 exhibitors pouring more than 1,000 wines during the day. And if this is not enough, you can also participate in one of the speed tastings on offer, including pet-nats, magnums, Eger Superior and Grand Superior and Villányi Franc. Tickets from Bolt | Borjour
Another opportunity to escape the city and discover the products of the famed Hungarian mangalica pig breed. The mangalica festival has now been promoting free trade of products originating only from herds controlled by the National Association of Mangalica Breeders. You can buy directly from the producers and enjoy mangalica sausages and tasty fast food from the food trucks. And of course, wherever there is a food festival in Hungary, there will also be wine! So you can also enjoy a variety of wines and palinka, as well as cheeses, homemade jams, cordials and honey in front of Debrecen’s Great Church on Kossuth Square.
Although the Furmint Grand Tasting usually held in Budapest in February has been postponed till May, so Hungarian Furmint aficionados will have to wait for the marathon tasting this year, UK Furmint lovers will have the chance to enjoy Furmint February again this year, and in February. Wines of Hungary UK is organising two walkaround events in the UK offering the chance to taste 80 wines from Hungary’s flagship white from 20 Hungarian wineries in two atmospheric locations: 21 February at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London and 23 February at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.
And looking forward to March…
Organisers of the Winelovers series of wine tasting events invites all lovers of good wine to its first big wine festival of the year at the grandiose Corinthia Hotel in Budapest. There will be more than 700 different wines available to sample from over 150 exhibiting Hungarian wineries. You’ll also have the opportunity to taste over 100 international wines in a separate room. For those looking to learn more about wine, there will also be pop up presentations and masterclasses throughout the day. Make sure you secure your tickets early. Early bird tickets are still available at Winelovers - Jegyvásárlás (wineloversrendezvenyek.hu)
