Hungarian Wines – the Villány Wine Region

Probably the most beautiful wine country in Hungary, Villány offers great quality red and rosé wines and exceptionnal wineries with an amazing view over the surrounding hills. The number one domestic stronghold of wine tourism is the Villányi Borút -Villány Wine Trail- which was the very first Wine Trail brought to life in Hungary. Book the “Pécs and Villány Tour by Car” if you want to see and to learn more!

The area altogether is about 1800 hectares, the climate is of sub-mediterranean character with a hot summer, mild winter and a lot of sunshine. The southernmost mountain of Hungary protects the grapes from cool north winds.

Excavations prove that the Romans cultivated grapes in the area some 2000 years ago. As far as we know our ancestors started winemaking as early as in the 1060’s. Villany wine region had its first golden age during the early 1800′ after the arrival of German settlers. They introduced advanced agricultural know-how, technics and a new grape, known today as Kekoporto, which became number one in the region’s wine making.

During the second half of the 20th century the Villány vineyards were nationalized, the legacy of the quantity production will probably continue to be felt for decades in plantations with low densities and widely paced rows, originally designed to accommodate oversize tractors. It’s easy to see the differences between a collectively cultivated tract and a privately owned plot even today.

The Villány vine varieties and wines are Kékoportó, Kékfrankos and Cabernet Sauvignon, Hárslevelű. Italian Riesling and Leányka.

Villány winemakers are among the most successful participants in Hungarian and international wine contests and exhibitions. Wine producers and cellars of Villány have been awarded the titles “Wine Producer of the Year” and “Wine Cellar of the Year” several times.

 

The Herend Porcelain

Hungary is very famous for porcelain production, one of the greatest manufacturers is Herend. The factory has been producing porcelain for almost 200 years. The factory is based in the little village of Herend, near Veszprém, I’d be happy to include the visit of the factory when we are touring the Lake Balaton and its surroundings.

Herend porcelain has won several prizes at different expos and exhibitions. After a famous Herend set had been presented at the London World Expo in 1851 Queen Victoria ordered a dinner set, the pattern got named in her honour “Viktória”.

The visit of the Herend Porcelain Museum is very interesting, the “Mini-Manufactory” displays the porcelain making in a series of rooms; visitors are shown the preparation of plaster casts, shaping, piercing, flower making and the various painting techniques. After the visit you’ll be invited for a coffee or tea served in Herend porcelain.

 

 

Happy Easter!

Let me tell you about the funniest Hungarian Easter tradition. That’s the so-called “watering” of Easter Monday. According to the old traditions water or more preferably perfumed water is sprinkled on girls. Nowadays men usually use perfume but a few decades back they poured large buckets of ice cold water on the screaming ladies. It’s a nice tradition, also, it helps women to remain fresh and beautiful all year long. In exchange the men get nicely decorated, hand painted Easter eggs.

 

A really sweet museum in the town of Szentendre

You might find that Hungarian people adore sweets, one of the locals’ favourites is the marzipan. The smooth and sweet almond paste can be a nice addition to a great cake and little or large figurines are often created of it, too.

Do you know what Michael Jackson and the Budapest Parliament building have in common? They can both be made of marzipan. The sweetest museum of Hungary is located in the heart of the town of Szentendre where you can admire dozens of statues made of marzipan. You’ll see full-figure marzipan statues of famous Hungarian people, celebrities from all around the world, Hungarian buildings and a lot more. You can also see the atelier with the ladies creating new figurines every day.

Don’t forget to buy some sweets in the shop after the tour in the museum. I’ll happily show you around the museum if you book the Danube Bend tour by car.

 

 

Halloween vs All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day

Halloween stands for ‘All Hallows’ Evening’ , the night before the Christian ‘All Saints’ Day’. Although Halloween with all the pumpking carving and trick-or-treating is getting more and more popular in Hungary, still, we celebrate traditionally the two following days; All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

All Saints’ Day is the day of all of the saint souls, who are not mentioned in the calendar by name. It’s a National Holiday in Hungary, probably because all work has been forbidden on this day for centuries, because of the respect for the dead. According to folk tradition, during the night between All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day deceased go to the house of their loved ones. That’s why in the villages an extra plate was placed on the table, with bread, salt and water on it.

All Souls’ Day is to commemorate and remember one’s beloved ones who had passed away. Local cemeteries are usually crowded and beautiful with tons of fresh flowers, candles and lampions.

23rd October 1956

Yesterday we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Hungary’s revolution against the Communist dictartorship, the presence of the Soviet troops and the Stalinist totalitarianism.

My father was 5 years old in 1956. This is his story. He was abbout to accompany his uncle to bring a radio to some friends. There were fights all over the streets, all around the city. My father and his uncle tried to get from the city center to another district of Pest. When they reached the Liberty bridge my father spotted a huge tank at the Pest side of the bridge. He was frightened. But then, he saw that there was a piece of cloth stuffed in the muzzle of the tank. He was relieved. He said to himself that he wasn’t going to die that day.

Let me tell you more, book the Communist Budapest Walk!

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