Hungarian Winehouse courts trade

The Hungarian Winehouse is turning its attention to the UK trade for the first time to further promote the central European country’s wines.

Owner Bálint Takács told the drinks business that until recently he had been focused on private customers, but this year he is working to find more trade clients.

“The main purpose of this tasting (on Friday 18 November) is to put Hungarian wine onto the trade’s radar,” he said.

“A lot of people don’t know about Hungarian wines but I think there is potential for both red and white, perhaps more the white as we have more native varieties.”

He felt that the on-trade in particular needed developing and he said he had already supplied Gordon’s wine bar in London with several cases each of Furmint, Merlot and a rosé, all of which had sold well.

He also thought that a white such as Irsai Olivér and reds like Cabernet Franc and Kékrankos had particular potential.

However, he conceded that things would remain difficult for Hungarian wine while the domestic market remained strong.

“The home market is so strong that some producers do not need to export at all,” said Takács.

Coupled with high demand and small production many producers can sell all of their stock before it is even released, which keeps prices high.

Takács also admitted that the country needed to get its marketing sorted but that it was difficult to come to an arrangement over funding when so few producers are bothered about export to begin with.