Debrecen4U January 20, 2025

“Wines of Debrecen” titles awarded again this year

This year’s award-winning wines can be found at official events in the city, at gastro-cultural programmes and in the wine list of local restaurants.

Every year since 2015, the City of Debrecen and the wine and gastronomy magazine “Debrecen Borozó” have been selecting wines worthy of receiving the title “Wines of Debrecen” in 7 categories. The chosen wines can proudly wear the award for a year and represent the wine culture of the Carpathian Basin. The winning wines are always selected in two stages from several hundred entries by a professional and delegated public jury consisting of international wine academics, sommeliers, wine journalists, and gastronomic experts.

More than 450 wines from 120 wineries in 17 wine regions competed for the title “Wines of Debrecen 2025”.

The stakes were high, as the wineries with the best results were invited to the judging to decide the award of the title. In December 2024, a prestigious jury consisting of well-known personalities of the Hungarian winemaking community selected the winning entries from 123 wines from 30 wineries in 14 wine regions. The experts conducted the evaluation and ranking according to the international 100-point judging criteria and named top wines in 7 categories.

“It reflects the views of around 40-50 experts. Of course, tastes are different, we do not exclude that there will be people who do not like all wines, but I am 100 percent sure that everyone will find something in these seven wines that they like and will be happy to drink,“ member of the Hungarian Wine Academy Pál Kovács said.

Hungarian wine and wine culture are no strangers to the city of Debrecen. It is a historical fact that for centuries, Érmellék was the city’s vineyard. Érmellék was the third most important white wine-producing region after Tokaj and the Balaton highlands. In 1870, for the first time in the Carpathian Basin, a school for vintners was founded in Bihardiószeg, less than 40 km from Debrecen. Due to the expansion of the Turks, the attention of the citizens of Debrecen turned towards the wine region from the middle of the 17th century: many citizens of Debrecen bought grapes in the wine region closest to the city, in 1690 118 citizens of Debrecen had larger vineyards in 29 settlements in the Érmellék region. It was noted that during the harvest, Debrecen’s administration was also suspended. For several years Debrecen supported the work of young winegrowers in the region by donating vine cuttings. This is one of the reasons why Bihardiószeg is once again one of the centres of the Érmellék wine region, and 80 hectares of the 250 hectares of vineyards in the Bihar part of the region are cultivated in the village.

The Wine of Debrecen 2025 title was awarded again this year to a full range of wines, with top wines in seven categories: sparkling, classic white and red, rosé, premium white and red, and sweet white.

‘I am very proud, and I thank the wineries that year after year they consider it important and prestigious that their selected and category-winning bottles should bear the label as “Wines of Debrecen”,” Mayor of Debrecen László Papp emphasised.

The following wineries earned the honorary title in 2025:

• In the champagne category, the Törley Champagne Winery, François President Brut (Etyek-Buda Wine Region) won.

• In the classic category, the Koch Winery, Hajós-Bajai Cserszegi Fűszeres 2024 (Hajós-Baja wine region), the Gál Vineyard and Winery, Kunsági Rosé Cuvée 2024 (Kunság wine region) and the Thummerer Winery, Egri Cabernet Sauvignon Superior 2021 (Eger Wine Region) won.

• In the premium category, the winners were Bujdosó Vineyard and Winery, Olaszrizling Selection 2023 (Balatonboglár Wine Region), and the Vesztergomb Winery, St. László Bikavér Premium 2021 (Szekszárd Wine Region).

• In the sweet category, the Naár Family Winery and Vineyard, Tokaji Sárgamuskotály 6 puttonyos (2019) Aszú received the title of Debrecen City Wine.

The winning winemakers were represented by Norbert Nemes (regional manager of the Eastern Hungary of Törley Pezsgőpincészet Kft), Anna Fehér (international wine judge, manager of Koch Borház), Csaba Gál Jr. (owner of Gál Vineyard and Winery), József Lamport (chief winemaker of Thummerer Winery), Ferenc Bujdosó Jr. (chief winemaker of Bujdosó Vineyard and Winery), and Szilvia Csont (employee of borbolt.hu and representing Vesztergombi Winery), and Balázs Stumpf (winemaker of Naár Family Winery).

Roland Balogh, the chef of the Hilton Garden Inn Debrecen, prepared snacks harmonising with the wines of the city of Debrecen for this occasion. The François President Brut champagne, awarded with the title title “Wines of Debrecen”, was opened by sommelier Béla Vállai, Hungarian sabrage champion.

Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu