Hajnalka Prácser: Sonoma and Tokaj - Wine Towns and Wine Regions
This year U.S. and Hungary both celebrated the 200th anniversary of
Ágoston Haraszthy’s birth in the Haraszthy200 festivities. As a part of
these celebrations, the towns of Tokaj and Sonoma decided to become
sister towns this September; and these two significant historical wine
regions of the world started a new phase of 
professional cooperation and communication.
Hence
this conference, and also this presentation that is destined to be a
short introduction – through some relevant parallels between the two
regions – to the Sonoma valley, to its flourishing wine culture, and to
the town of Sonoma itself.
The presentation is bound to give you some insight into the town,
the valley, and the county of Sonoma. The first part of the
presentation is devoted to the introduction of the town of Sonoma. A
town that played a significant historical role in the history of
California with all the famous historical figures who lived and created
there, like General Vallejo, Count Haraszthy, or Jack London, who – on
the basis of the Indian meaning of Sonoma – coined the valley as
“Valley of the Moon.”
The next part of the presentation is trying to give some information
on the wine region of Sonoma Valley, and draw some parallels with the
wine region of Tokaj, and through that show how significant Haraszthy’s
contribution to the California wine industry really was.
The
two regions have a lot in common. It will be exciting to look at the
two towns and regions from a historical, geographical, social,
touristic, vitivinicultural point of view, compare the current
professional directions, values, philosophies.
The presentation will also try to cover some more specific points
concerning the sister town cooperation: what can the two regions learn
from each other, how can both parties make the most of a professional
relationship, what are some values that are to be shared.
The presentation is trying to serve as a trigger for a train of
thought, and ideas as to how to establish an ongoing, working
professional dialogue between the two towns and regions, and how to
realize a wellworking exchange of information and professionals.
Hajnalka Prácser winemaker, Tokaj, Elizabeth Cellar
Presentation of Haraszthy200 Wine Conference;
5 October 2012, Tokaj. (It is the additional part of a lecture
under processing.)
