On November 29, 2014, the leadership of Debrecen began an annual tradition of unveiling the classic white and red wines to be labelled “Wines of Debrecen” at an event know as “Bormustra”. Today, these award-winning wines are used by the municipality for city events and international delegations and served in several local restaurants.
Each year a jury of professional and social delegates select the wine of the winning wineries in the annual Bormustra competition. The event is organized by the editorial staff of the magazine “Debreceni Borozó” and this year took place on December 16 at the Hotel Lycium.
The jury comprised of winemakers and social delegates including experts such as Dr. Attila Fiáth, professor, international wine academician, Dr. József Kosárka, international wine academic, the ambassador of the world wines and Dr. Tibor Kovács, associate professor and director of the Research Institute for Viticulture and Oenology, Tokaj.
At the event, the jury tasted 82 wines from 8 regions including classic rosé, white and red; premium white and red, as well as sparkling and sweet white wines.
Dr. Attila Fiáth, professor and chairman of the jury, said that Debrecen does a great deal for promoting the Hungarian wine culture and the event is one of the most significant wine events of the region.
The international wine academy emphasized that the goal was to select a full line of wine, from sparkling wine to classic and premium wines to dessert wine. This new concept not only marks the growing prestige of the “Wines of Debrecen”, but also promotes the consumption of wines so that everyone – including the wine-loving public, restaurants and foreign delegations – will find wines to please.
Pál Kovács wine writer, chief organizer of the event listed the participating wineries, including:-
- Eger wine region: Lajos Gál Winery, Petrény Winery, St. Andrea, Thummerer Winery,
- Tokaj Wine Region: Dobogó Winery, Gróf Dégenfeld Vineyard, Hétszőlő Vineyard, Holdvölgy Winery, Patricius Winery
- Mátra wine region: Nyilas Winery, Szőke Mátyás Winery,
- Szekszárd wine region: Eszterbauer Winery, Mészáros Wine House, Takler Wine Estate,
- Hajós-Baja wine region: Koch Winery,
- Villány wine region: Heumann Winery, Koch Winery
- Kunság Wine Region: Gedeon Estate, Font Winery
- Balatonboglár wine region: Garamvári Winery
There are several wineries or winemakers among the TOP20 wineries who submitted their wines to the “Wines of Debrecen” Competition, which also includes the title “Wine Producer of the Year” and the “Winemaker of the Wineries”.
The expert added that the high quality of the submitted wines made it difficult to choose the best ones even based on blind tasting.
Organizers announced that the public will be able to taste the winning wines at the Debrecen Spring Festival on March 27, and there will also be special workshops at the Wine and Jazz Festival to get to know the wineries better.
A special gift box will be prepared for the wine selection of the city (“Wines of Debrecen”). Its design was selected after an international competition coordinated by VisitDebrecen.
A press conference announcing the results of the “Wines of Debrecen” Competition is expected to take place on the second week of January 2020.
