Best of Budapest & Hungary

Three top-of-the-range red wines were launched by the Eger winery Ostoros Családi Pincészet this fall. This is one of those occasions when not only the contents of the bottles provide cause for rejoice but also the packaging as the labels are adorned by paintings of the Munkácsy Prize winner, renowned artist, Imre Bukta.

The second-generation family winery has been making wine in the Eger wine region for over fifty years. The 170-hectare estate’s vineyards boast volcanic soils where both white and red grapes are cultivated. The two pillars of the winery’s philosophy are outstanding quality and excellent quality-price-ratio. They consider it their mission to contribute to the development of Hungarian wine culture by providing the highest quality wines in all price categories making it possible for all customers to consume their products. Besides its well-established and popular wines, the winery is constantly striving to introduce novelties to the market. The top-of-the-range reds of the winery are marketed under the brand name ‘Soltész.’ These are wines produced only in the best vintages and are either single vineyard bottlings or barrel selections.

The three most important wines in this line are: Kékfrankos, a wine selected for the National Wine Selection, Delelő, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zweigelt and Merlot that has won Gold Medal at the Hungarian Wine Competition and finally the 2016 Egri Bikavér Superior that has won Gold Medal in Bordeaux. “We wanted our favorite reds to be visually different from the rest of our range. We contacted Imre Bukta who has strong ties to Eger and asked him if he would allow the use of some of his works on our labels,” says the owner of the winery, Gergő Soltész. “We love Imre’s paintings and he loves our wines, so thankfully both sides were happy to participate in this cooperation.”

The label for the Kékfrankos carries the painting ‘Gipsy girl ice skating’, the blend is adorned by the painting ‘Delelő’ from which the wine takes its name, and the label for the Bikavér carries the painting ‘Béla with a pheasant’. The three paintings were adopted for the labels by the graphic designer Géza Ipacs. The end results are bottles which please both wine connoisseurs and art lovers. The new Soltész wines are available in selected wine stores, restaurants and at the Soltész cellar.