Hungarian Winery Partners of Festival
Tokaj
Kereskedőház
Tokaj Kereskedőház is the largest vintner and commercial wine enterprise in the historical Tokaj wine region. The company possesses over half a century's worth of winemaking experience, as a consequence of which it has always been a defining actor in the life of Hegyalja. Tokaj Kereskedőház has undergone a significant transformation over the course of the past few years. This development has affected the entirety of the company, starting from the management of the company through the reconstruction of its own grape-growing areas, all the way until the comprehensive renovation of the barrel inventory used for aging. These developments and this winery investment is worthy of the reputation of Tokaj Wines and the Tokaj Wine Region; additionally, the observance of the Hegyalja tradition becomes a token of the excellent quality of the wines of Tokaj Kereskedőház. During the more than half-decade past, Tokaj Kereskedőház Zrt. has been transformed completely compared to previous years, even previous decades. This Kereskedőház is not that Kereskedőház anymore. The one and only state-owned winery of Tokaj-Hegyalja has reached that level of modernization from a technological and wine quality points of view by 2008, where by now it trades not with quantity but rather with quality.
Szőke Mátyás Winery
In the wine region of Mátra, 90 km distance from Budapest, is living and working the Szőke Family. They are dealing with viticulture and winemaking since many generations. Mátyás Szőke is the leader of the winery, he is a technical degree professional, but he is dealing with winemaking since the 70s. In the cellar he has a great deputy, his son, Zoltán, who is graduated as a winemaker. They are growing grapes on 25 acres, mostly “Olaszrizling”, “Királyleányka”, “Irsai Olivér”, “Zengő”, Pinor Grigio, Muscat Ottonel, Chardonnay, Muscat Lunel, Blaufrankish, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The processing of grape and the whole winemaking technology are characterized with speed, gentleness and intensity. The 150-200 thousand bottles are sold at wine stores and at the HoReCa sector. Mátyás Szőke would like to develop the quality and quantity of production, because he believes, that traditions and aptness of the wine region with consistent quality level working will lead to success.
Gere Attila Winery
Attila Gere’s great-grandmother lived in Villány, and her husband was the local cooper. Along this line, the Gere family had quite a few members who were affiliated with wine production, starting from as many as seven generations back in time. This process discontinued for a short while when after World War II. the peasant proprietorships were ruined and people were deported – family traditions were forced to diminish. Due to this depression era, Attila Gere became a forester. He became first interested in winery in 1978, through his father-in-law. Tasting his authentic homemade wines, Gere started to realize the great potentials of the red wines of the Villány region. Gere, after giving up his original job, launched out on the Gere family enterprise in 1991 which is today one of the most well-known wineries. After years of hard work, the winery is proud to call its own some 50 hectares of superb grounds in the slopes of Kopár, Konkoly, Csillagvölgy and Ördögárok. The winery and so Attila Gere has brought home several prizes including the “Winemaker of the Year” prize in 1994, and international acknowledgements from Verona, Brussels and London. The Gere family believes in the importance of vine-culture and wine-making being passed on to sons and daughters, thereby re-creating the noble Hungarian tradition of the lasting family business.
Evowine
This winery was rebuilt on the ruins of Egervin winery at Verpelét. The winery has 27 acres vineyards, mostly blue grapes. They have started a reconstruction of the site in August of 2010. The owners formed a clean, new-wave, modern technology for the harvest in 2011. As a first step the concrete tanks got a new inside coating. As a result has now the winery a storage capacity of 24.000 hectoliters. For 2012 they have finished the new processing plant too, so they have a processing capacity of 20.000 hectoliters. The winery is managed by the international wine academic, László Bálint. The originally engineer professional has dealing with wine for 14 years. He got the wine diploma (WSET) in London in 2009. László is publicist of Borigo magazine and instructor at the Hungarian Wine Academy.
Bock Basement
József Bock’s german-speaking ancestors settled in the 18th century on the depopulated area of Villány. The Bock Family deals with viticulture and winemaking since ninth generations. Bocks have two acres of grape plantation in Villány at Jammertál vineyard since 1850. From 1958 the Bock wines continuously won medals at local and national competitions. József Bock originally is a professional locksmith. He worked at the “Mezőgép” factory in Villány, but like everybody in Villány, after working hours he went to the vineyard to continue the day. József Bock, started to make his own wine in 1981, after his father’s death. For a decade he has been producing wine as a second job, when he decided due to the growing area and success, to make a full time deal with the grapes and the wine. In this time, he has two and a half hectares vineyard, which has increased for today about 75 hectares. Bock became – relatively quickly – in 1997 the Winemaker of the Year. This award was preceded and followed by numerous national and international recognitions.
Gróf Degenfeld Winery
Of German-Hungarian descent
the counts of Degenfeld family decided to follow the over a century of
traditions and to revive this winery. In order to achieve this they purchased
the first-class vineyard and an ancient cellar in Tarcal, near Tokaj. The 100
hectare estate, is set on the Tarcal Terézia Hill, the Mézesmál dűlő near Mád,
and on the edge of Mezőzombor. These vineyards belong to the best grape-growing
areas in the whole of Tokaj-Hegyalja. Set in the central area of the winery the
first four-star hotel in Tokaj-Hegyalja was opened in 2003, following the
renovation of the former vintners’ training college, the Gróf Degenfeld Castle
Hotel. The owners are committed to continual development and investment in
order to ensure that their wines are always of the highest quality when they
reach the consumer. They regard it as their mission to spread word of the Tokaj
wines and their wine region in the wider world. “The duty of nobility” –
mirrors the philosophy of the winery in its outstanding work without
compromise.
Compiled by Balázs Humayer
