Balaton producers won the Hungarian Wine Grand Prix again this year: the Hungarian Wine Writers’ Circle (MBK) awarded the 2024 Kéknyelű from Földi Bálint in Badacsony in the white wine category and the 2021 Peregrina blend from Zelna Winery in Balatonfüred in the red wine category. The winner of the Dr. József Kosárka Memorial Award was Vesztergombi Winery from Szekszárd.
The MBK’s annual competition takes place in several rounds. All members of the Wine Writers’ Circle participate in compiling the shortlist.
In the first round, their task is to select three red and three white wines that are no more than five years old, have a sugar content of no more than 12 g/l, represent the highest quality, and are competitive in international comparison.
The list of wines collected in this way is then continuously narrowed down in several rounds based on the votes of the members until only 12 white wines and 12 red wines remain. These wines make up the Super 12 field. Which of these white and red wines will receive the Hungarian Wine Grand Prize will be decided by blind tasting by the members of the organization.
Hungary’s 22 wine districts are located in six wine regions. This year, wine writers selected the most wines, a total of ten, from the Balaton wine region (six wine regions around Lake Balaton) for the top list. The Pannon wine region (Villány, Szekszárd, Tolna, and Pécs) has six, northern Hungary wine region (Eger, Mátra, and Bükk) has five, and Tokaj and the Upper Pannon wine region (Sopron, Mór, Etyek, Neszmély, and Pannonhalma) each had one wine on the list, based on the announcement.
The Super 12 list of the best wines also included the 2022 Enigma wine from Villány winemaker Kiss Gábor, but the Hungarian Wine Writers’ Circle did not invite this item for sensory evaluation out of respect. Instead, another item was tested, so this year’s list contains 13 red wines instead of 12.
Villány wine region. Photo: Pixabay
As in the previous year, the 2025 Hungarian Wine Grand Prix was won by wines from the Badacsony and Balatonfüred-Csopak wine regions, with the two regions merely “swapping” which produced the best white and red wines.
Fact
Until his death in 2022, József Kosárka was the founder and president of the Hungarian Wine Writers’ Circle. The award established in his memory is given to the winery whose wines received the most nominations from wine writers. The awards will be presented by Edit Szabó, president of the MBK, at the Nagy Fehérvári Wine Festival on January 10 at the Mercure Hotel Magyar Király in Székesfehérvár. The two grand prize-winning winemakers, Bálint Földi and Barna Barabás (Zelna Winery), will also hold a joint master class at the wine festival.
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Via MTI; Featured photo: Pixabay
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