Best of Budapest & Hungary

When it comes to drinking wine in the summer, most people look for something zesty and refreshing. Sparkling wine is perfect for quenching your thirst on a hot summer day, bringing cool relief instantly. So, if you’re throwing a party, don’t forget to order a few bottles or more!

In Hungary, all sparkling wines with bubbles produced through a second fermentation are called ‘pezsgő.’ However, there is more than one way to produce bubbles through a second fermentation. Sparkling wine can be made in tanks, but it is also possible to ferment and age them in larger bottles and rack the wines later into bottles of regular size. The most respected way of producing sparkling wines is the traditional method. This is the way champagne in France, cava in Spain and other prestigious sparkling wines around the world are made. The still wine suitable for sparkling wine production goes through the various stages of vinification in the very same bottle that ends up on our tables ready for consumption. Hungary has witnessed a sparkling wine revolution in the last ten years. Practically all Hungarian wine regions have at least one winery producing sparkling wines these days. This is still a relatively new category and it obviously requires a different mindset and technological know-how from winemakers used to producing traditional still wines. This might explain why there is so much experimentation going on. Winemakers are still looking for the most suitable local and international grape varieties and that is just one of the many issues that needs to be dealt with in order to arrive at the desired sparkling wine style.

Where to start exploring the Hungarian sparkling wine scene? Etyek is an excellent starting point as this is where one of the largest producers in Hungary is located but it is also the home to many smaller family wineries that have recently taken up sparkling wine production. At Hernyák Estate, the first low volume sparkling wine was made in 2010. “Following the political changes in Eastern Europe it took us two decades to accumulate the experience necessary to craft top quality still wines and then make our way towards producing sparkling wines. For us this was a logical direction to take as it practically meant returning to our roots,” says Tamás Hernyák of Hernyák Estate.

Before the First World War the region was a major player in sparkling wine production. With its 2 million bottle annual production it was second only to France. Sparkling wine production was introduced there in the 19th century because the cool climate and the calcareous soil is an exact match for the conditions found in the famed Champagne region. It was Champagne where Tamás Hernyák travelled to study in order to acquire the viticultural and enological knowledge required to craft top quality sparkling wines and their work is assisted and monitored by a renowned Champagne winemaker. “We have made great progress in this field since the early days. The volume of the currently available 2016 vintage is 6000 bottles but with the upcoming harvest our target is 10000 bottles. If we can meet our target then for the first time sparkling wine production will overtake still wine production at our winery. There is no doubt in our minds that this is the road we have to take, this is where our future lies. It helps a lot to know that we are not alone heading in this direction; there are 12 more Etyek wineries that share our philosophy. One of the results of this joint commitment is a new AOC sparkling wine category. The first AOC sparkling wines will be launched in 2023.”