18 October 2024 / Edit Szabó
Am I right that the Hungarian Sommelier Club and the Hungarian Sommelier Association were once one organisation?
Mihály Lippai: You are. I was still a kid when the first sommelier organisation was founded in Hungary in 1992 under the name Sommelier Club Budapest.
Mihály Fabók: I was starting my career then. We had excellent courses, lots of professional lectures and the opportunity to learn and develop thanks to the leaders at that time. Gábor Kovács, one of the founders of the organisation, had been in this profession since time immemorial and passed on a lot of knowledge and experience to us. As far as I remember, there was no conflict at the beginning, the founders got together, made plans and worked together, but there were very few sommeliers in the country at that time. We considered it an important milestone when the International Sommelier Association (ASI - Association de la Sommellerie Internationale) elected the Sommelier Club Budapest as one of its members in 2001. Then in 2011 the Hungarian Sommelier Association was formed and the profession started to become divided. The old organisation also used the name "sommelier federation", and they complained that the new group was registered under that name.
Mihály Lippai: Exactly what happened and what led to the split is something that the people who caused this might be able to tell you, but they don't like to talk about it. In any case, when the second organisation, the Hungarian Sommelier Association, was founded, the founders and the membership started to go their separate ways.
Mihály Fabók (MaSoSZ) Mihály Lippai (MSC)
As I recall, one of the main problems was that although both organisations organised their own national competitions, only the holder of the international licence, the MSC, was allowed to send a competitor to the international sommelier championships.
Mihály Lippai: The real stakes of a competition are when the best of the country can compete against the best on the international stage. It is no coincidence that the new organisation had also set itself the goal of gaining ASI membership, and this deepened the conflict.
Mihály Fabók: I have been working for several years to get some kind of cooperation between the two organisations, but I always hit a wall because everyone thought I was trying to have a good relationship because of the licence. But I just felt that the situation was untenable, it is not good for anybody when such a small profession is so divided.
International Sommelier Championship in Ausztria
But something has finally started this year. Of course, we are not yet at the point where we can talk about the two organisations being reunited, but you’ll be organising the national championships together. How did you manage to get that off the ground?
Mihály Lippai: I think we simply recognised that we had to move on, and Pál Rókusfalvy, the government commissioner for national wine marketing, was an important catalyst in this process. Thirteen years have passed, there is now a new generation, and young people no longer remember the old grievances because they were not the ones who got hurt. All we can see is that there is no other country in the world where representatives of such a tiny profession are grouped in two organisations.
Mihály Fabók: I have participated in three international sommelier competitions, including the European and World Championships. Everywhere I saw that nothing is impossible, if you want something badly enough you can achieve it. However, anyone representing their country in such a competition must be prepared, and it is the job of the representatives of the profession to help them prepare. That is why cooperation is important, but there is another aspect: the media. Many journalists wouldn’t support us, come to our competitions or write about us because they didn't want to commit to either side. Now that is finally going to stop, and I think the profession stands to gain a lot from it.
Sommelier Championship 2018 / Photo: Borsmenta
What is the role of a sommelier in selling wine?
Mihály Lippai: All marketing activities are intermittent, but the sommelier is a continuous transmitter of information. A salesperson who has a personal impact on the customer, who can influence and persuade them, and who knows exactly how to turn a meal into a culinary experience with a good wine and an authentic story.
Mihály Fabók: Authenticity and entertainment are as important as what's on your plate or in your glass. So a good sommelier is the added value that makes people go to a wine tasting or become a regular at a restaurant. A trained professional will quickly get to know a guest's tastes and will be able to recommend the most suitable wine - or even water or other drinks - in no time. To be confident in this field, however, you need to know the value of these drinks, otherwise you have no chance of selling them. You need to charm the customer, but you also need to be confident.
Mihály Lippai: Let's not deny that the goal is always sales, but it can be done well! I'm an economist by training, for me writing a wine list or the marketing strategy behind the drinks is as exciting as pouring wine into the glasses of your guests, but you need to know everything about the drinks, there's no way around it.
Why is it important to participate in international competitions?
Mihály Fabók: Because this is when colleagues can meet the greats of the profession and see how much knowledge, preparation and hard work there is behind an award. It inspires everyone to learn. And the fact that at an international competition, a competitor can share a lot of information about his or her country and the wines produced there is an important bonus, so it is also a serious marketing activity.
Sommelier Chamionship 2018 / Photo: Borsmenta
And what is the significance of the national competition?
Mihály Fabók: Besides finding the champion? It's always exciting to see how much the competitors have improved from one year to the next, whether there are new entrants and what the general standard is, but it's also important to show the uniqueness, the complexity, all the beauty and difficulty of our profession. The contestants will show off their skills in front of an audience in the finals, so anyone can watch what the highest level of restaurant experience looks like. It's a way to educate guests a little, so that next time they know what to expect from the glass.
How does the competition itself work?
Mihály Lippai: The first round is a test of the contestants’ theoretical knowledge. In the semi-finals, they will be given practical exercises, and in the finals, the elegance of their movements and the way they perform will also play a big role. This is the part that takes place in front of an audience, where the competitor is under pressure to perform, so they have to use the skills they need to do their job every day. People often ask why certain tasks have to be completed on time. Well, because in a crowded restaurant there is very little time to make decisions, but if you can handle situations with confidence and manage your colleagues well, you can be quick in delivering a perfect performance.
Mihály Fabók: Even on a typical evening, a sommelier is always on a tight schedule, offering food and drink, dealing with complaints, serving and making decisions. Doing all this on stage, in front of the cameras, with top professionals on the jury is not easy. Some people are paralysed by the situation, but it gives others wings.
Mátyás Szik All-time hungarian sommelier champion / Photo: Réka Földi
Applications are now closed. How many competitors are you expecting, and where is the championship taking place?
Lippai Mihály: Sixteen entries were received this year. The competition is being held on 20 and 21 October in Budapest, at the Continental Hotel. The public is invited to the second day, 21 October. We have a very good relationship with the Austrian, Polish and Serbian sommelier associations and have invited their competitors too, so it will be an international field. As they are also sending their best people, we are looking forward to a high-quality championship, but it is also important that the competitors are practising sommeliers in their own country, so with their help, we can also enhance the reputation of Hungarian wine.
MASOSZ website
MSC website
(Cover Photo: Réka Földi)
