Eger in the focus at Budapest Wine Festival.
Wine University
Each year, the lecture and tasting series of the Wine University centers around a current topic. This year, the focus is on the Eger wine region, with the members of the recently founded Eger Wine Workshop giving the audience a row of exciting lessons in winemaking. Held on 2 September at MOM Cultural Center, you will get to learn about Bull’s Blood and Egri Csillag, the regulations surrounding the two wine varieties, taste ten different wines, and meet Eger’s brand new region-specific bottle. In addition, the natural features of the region, the role of grapes and blending, the challenges of the past few years and the responses local winemakers gave to them will all come to the fore.
Wine Festival
Immerse yourself in the Eger wine region by tasting its nectars and learning about its unique characteristics during the four days of Budapest Wine Festival. In the festival brochure you can find plenty of information with regards to the Eger wine region, besides the list of programs and exhibitors, so you might want to browse through the pages thoroughly. Exhibitors from Eger comprise of Dula Winery, Egri Korona Wine House, Juhász Brothers Winery, Ostoros and Soltész Family Winery, Petrény winery, Thummerer Winery, and the Tóth Ferenc Winery. Visitors can sample a variety of wines, from light, reductive whites to more serious, robust reds.
You should definitely look out for the interactive wine tasting program of A Couple of Wine Couples, whose aim is to communicate wine knowledge in an easily understandable way. Participating wineries offer guests previously announced wine pairs for tasting, one of them for free. The two wines closely resemble each other, but they differ in one crucial feature: maybe it’s the same wine from two different years, maybe one is of premium, the other basic quality, or while one was aged in a tank, the other was aged in a barrel.
If you’re still thirsty for some professional expertise, visit the NÉBIH Wine Quiz Bar, where you can learn about the Eger wine region and its fine produces through a number of interesting games. In addition to the acquired knowledge, you’re also guaranteed to leave with a gift.
It's always a refreshing experience to hear the winemakers themselves talk about how they chose their profession, what happens in the vineyard and the cellar, what it was like to experience a challenging vintage, how they make their blends, and what’s their favourite wine. Drop by the Savoyai stage on Friday between 5 and 6 PM to listen to three Eger-based winemakers talk about their passion and to taste their produces.
Charity Wine Auction
This year’s Charity Wine Auction will be held on 12 September, organized jointly by Budapest Wine Festival and the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta. Both companies and individuals can bid on the items offered by Hungarian wineries, the proceeds of which go to support the charity service’s Tiszabura sewing workshop, helping the area’s poorest families to get back into the work world. For the event, members of the Eger Wine Workshop offered a selection of Bull’s Blood and Egri Csillag wines: the package consists of special, limited edition items, magnum and double-magnum bottles.