21 June 2021 / Edit Szabó
It is a tradition that the Winemaker of the Winemakers and the Friend of the Winemakers awards, as well as the Winemaker of the Future scholarship are presented at a celebratory event. I was also there when your name was read out and everyone applauded. It took about a minute for you to reach the stage. What took you so long?
I was trying to convince my husband Józsi to come with me, but he wouldn’t. Everyone knows that Bott Winery is our joint business; we couldn’t have built it up without each other, but he always wants to stay in the background. However, he was there for the photo shoot.
Had you prepared a speech?
Of course not! As Tokaj winemaker Károly Áts was named last year, I was sure that István Ipacs Szabó would now be the recipient. Any of the five people selected would have deserved to be named Winemaker of the Winemakers, as would all 50 from the main list. Actually, I could even add another 50 winemakers who reach for the stars and do all in their power to help develop their own wine region and the Hungarian wine sector. I really believed that Pista Ipacs Szabó would win and even called him beforehand. I greatly appreciate his work, and I think it was really courageous of him to leave Vylyan Winery in this uncertain period and devote all his energy to his own winery.
Pál Rókusfalvy (President of "Winemaker of Winemakers"), Károly Áts (Winemaker of Winemakers, 2020), Judit Bodó (WW 2021) and István Nagy (Minister of Agriculture)
You gave a touching speech, very emotional and loaded with positive messages…
Yet I was shaking like a leaf and could barely speak. It really matters what kind of audience you are talking to and on what occasion, but my colleagues standing in front of me know exactly what lies behind this award. When we moved to Tokaj 21 years ago, we rented rooms from Stéphanie Berecz’s mother-in-law for a while. Grandma Berecz always said, “If I knew I was going to be slapped in the face, I would rather be sitting down.” Well, that’s how I felt too. If I had known they would choose me, I would have written the speech in advance. However, what’s good about this award is that we never know in advance who will be selected.
You stood there with the award in your hand and looked straight into the eyes of your colleagues as you spoke. How did it feel?
The winemaking community is extremely inspiring; everyone boasts something I consider exemplary. It was good to be looking at them because I could talk to them as if I were talking to my family. The winemaking community is really like one big family. Working in the vineyard and the winery improves everyone’s character because vines and wine teach you modesty and humility. You can never be arrogant. When I came off the stage, everyone rushed over to me, hugged me and congratulated me, and this tsunami of love has continued until today. It’s great to make your living this way, but you should never forget that such an award does not only bring joy but also responsibility.
Over the last two decades, you have become one of Tokaj’s most famous faces, as you have not only built a cellar, a press house and a winery but have also done a lot for local families and young people growing up in the wine region. You inaugurated your new winery in Bodrogkeresztúr in the middle of the pandemic. You had barely taken possession of the winery when you had to close the doors to your brand-new tasting room due to COVID. Is it open again yet?
We have made it through the difficult months, as we have barely seen our consumers during the pandemic. The way to the winery leads through the tasting room and it was sad to live with its resounding emptiness every day. This would put anyone to the test, but we also felt we were losing our enthusiasm, and for a creative person – and winemaking is also a creation – there is no greater enemy than a lack of enthusiasm. That is why I’m so happy about this award, as this affirmation came at a good time. And yes, our doors are already open, and life is slowly reawakening inside its renovated walls – we are now welcoming visitors.
Bott Winery in Bodrogkeresztúr. "Doors are already open..."
We all know that an award never recognises the work of just one single person. Who else is behind yours?
My Józsi, definitely, because we are a couple. Also there are Norbert Spisák and Mihály Tamás, our vineyard and cellar sprites, because we could not have achieved all this without them. So, the four of us are Bott Winery; our financial circumstances don’t permit us to take on a fifth person. It so happens that my name will be on the certificate, but all merit for every achievement and every recognition goes to them too. We are grateful for their work, patience and diligence.
What does Tokaj mean to you?
I have lived here for 21 years with my ever-expanding family; for me, the Tokaj wine region means life and prosperity. And here the focus is on prosperity because it is not enough for someone to work and get paid for it, they should also be happy doing that job. If you find both your life partner and your vocation, then it is truly a state of grace. It must be awful to live with a day-to-day job that you don’t like, as it sucks all your energy. If that energy is retained, you can give more of yourself to the community, and that’s exactly how I feel about vines and wine. We work hard, doing hard physical work, but it’s not a burden for us to welcome visitors after that, because it’s good to see that those who come to us here have come here for Tokaj. Every cloud has a silver lining. We have created a good balance and have even found the energy to do something for our village, for the young people who live here and for the wine region.
Bodó József és Bodó Judit
Do you feel at home in Tokaj?
I believe that a person can have multiple identities. Józsi and I both grew up in the Highlands, in southern Slovakia, home was around Gabčíkovo - Bős in Hungarian - but we are already connected to the Tokaj wine region by a thousand threads. We live here, our children were born here, our land is here, as is our winery, this is our life. It’s wonderful that our friends from home, family members and old classmates are happy to come and visit us every year, spending a week here as a family, and so perhaps our relationship is much more intense than if we had still been at home. The phone kept ringing after the award, half the Highlands congratulated us, then the mayor of Bodrogkerestúr and then friends and colleagues from here also called. We already belong to this region so much that I feel as if they consider us completely local.
What was the most surprising congratulation?
I was just watering the vegetables one evening when a group of cyclists arrived. They were all wearing the same t-shirts, were loaded down with flowers and were shouting out in the street, “We love you, Juci!” It was the Olaszliszka wine lovers come to pay their respects. Needless to say, we drank wine until late in the night and the flowers and their scent are still adorning the tasting room. Love has been flowing towards me, so I’ll have something to nourish me for a while.
Last winter, shortly before Christmas, you moved your ‘headquarters’ from Bodrogkisfalu to Bodrogkeresztúr and moved into the family house on the site of the former ceramics factory. You have been working on this construction site for years and have also developed the winery here. Does it feel strange to be in a new place?
The kids love having their own room, and anyone who has lived with teenagers knows what a feat of arms this is. And I enjoy finally being able to make our wines in proper conditions, and so close by too. It’s less than 50 steps from the cellar to the door of the house, so I can just pop to the winery and do whatever needs doing at that time. The situation is new for everyone just now, but there are so many good things about it that we will soon come to love it.
The new winery
AThe Bodrogkeresztúr ceramics factory was once extremely important in the lives of those living there. What do the locals think about it having become a winery?
I think they are rather happy that the building is no longer standing there derelict. Anyone who comes to us with a piece of pottery made there or an old story is welcomed with a glass of wine. Many people come, recount stories, walk around the building and reminisce, and we’re glad that the locals come into a winery, as, oddly enough, they don’t really go and taste wines at any cellar. The ceramics we have received now decorate the tasting room, so anyone who visits us can see what beautiful objects were made here in the past.
Do you have any more plans in the pipeline?
Yes! I’d like a poultry run at the end of the garden! Okay, this is partly a joke, but only partly! Anyone who has visited us already knows that we have created the backbone of Bott Winery, but there is still plenty to do. I don’t know whether it will ever be completely finished. I would like to perfect the viticulture; it would be nice to spend more time in the winery, fine-tuning all areas. Anyway, I want to enjoy my family and all the good things there are, to live in peace, harmony and love, and sometimes just to sit and smile at everyone.
Photo: Borászok Borásza
