Introduction of Hungarian Sparkling Wines

Have you heard about Prosecco? And Cava? What about Champagne? Of course, you know all this yummy bubbles and I bet you can even name the countries of origin.

But have you heard about Pezsgő before? And about the country that makes it?

Let me help: Pezsgő is the delicious, usually a little bit sweeter sparkling wine from Hungary. This is how they call their ’Champagne’. Pezsgő means ’fizzy’ or ’bubbly’ in hungarian.

Hungarian sparkling wines are not as well know internationally as Tokaj, the sweet Sauternes-style dessert wine, but they are just as interesting to taste them.

The production of Pezsgő started quite early in 1825 so you can’t say that this is a product of today’s hype. It started as a traditional method with the second fermentation in the bottle but unfortunately the World Wars came and stopped the production in the country. After the crisis, production started again but the charmat method became more popular due to the lower price of making and selling.

Today there is six wine regions in Hungary where you can find the best sparkling wines.

The region around Lake Balaton, mainly at the southern part of it with the company of Balatonboglári Borgazdaság aka BB, this is what you can see on the label of their wines. Another big name in the country’s Pezsgő production.

 Then next to the town of Pécs, south-west of the country and  the region of Sopron just on the border with Austria.

 An other famous winery called Kreinbacher making Pezsgő only with second fermentation in the bottle from predominantly Furmint grapes with Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű, Tramini, Szürkebarát, Juhfark, Chardonnay and Syrah in the Nagy-Somló region, which is the region just north-west of Budapest.

And of course they produce some top quality sparkling wine in Tokaj-Hegyalja as well and what can be more suited in this region then Furmint and Hárslevelű for that reason.

In the region of Etyek-Budai, you can find the Törley Pezsgőmanufaktúra. One of the biggest name in Hungary is József Törley who actually started sparkling wine making in Reims with Louis Francois. In 1882, he moved back to Hungary alongside with Francois to reproduce the famous Champagne at home. Althought the grape variety was different, he made Pezsgő from Ezerjó, a hungarian speciality, which produces wine with naturally high acidity, good body and capable of ageing. Today, Törley is the most well known sparking wine maker in Hungary, producing Pezsgő with charmat method as well as traditional method for their top quality wines.

The hungarians have a sweet tooth when it comes to wine, so this is what you can see usually on the shelves of the stores. Either  Pezsgő demi-sec or sweet with charmant methode. There is a speciality at Törley where they make sparkling wine with bortytis furmint grapes from Tokaj. And these kinds of wines are just lovely and under 15 euros!

So as you can see, there is another wine country making top sparlking wines that you should try. You can find more traditional ones with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but if you want to experiment, definitely try a Pezsgő with one of the hungarian varieties, I am sure you are not going to be disappointed!

Have you already tasted Hungarian Sparkling wines? What is your opinion?

The Author

Enikö Dub

I am a wine expert and writer, founder of WinEncsy. I hold a WSET3 with distinction certification as well as I am a Certified Sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers. I am currently working as a wine influencer and blogger, sharing my wine story on social media with a little bit more focus on Austrian-, Hungarian- and Italian wines although all kinds of wines and wine facts can be found on my accounts.

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