Hungary Has More to Offer Than Bulls Blood Wine

Hungarian wine has a history dating back to at least Roman times, and that history reflects the country's position between the Slavs and the Germanic peoples. The best-known wines are the white dessert wine Tokay (Tokaji) and Bull's Blood (Egri Bikavér), a full-bodied red wine.

Despite what many may think, the area known as Hungary holds more wine tradition than any other country in Europe. Most of this very tradition is just now surfacing in the light, with people finally starting to catch wind about everything Hungarian wine has to offer. Even though many wine drinkers aren’t familiar with Hungary - there are many who are.

Hungary is home to over 20 wine regions, fully of forests, vineyards, and orchards. With several different varieties of grapes to offer, the vineyards found in Hungary have flourished since the great Roman Times. The weather in Hungary is seasonal to say the least, with cold winters and extremely hot summers. This weather allows the soil in the country to be diverse, which allows wine makers to create a variety of quality wines.

Despite the communist control in the past, there are several different wines found in Hungary. Although the vineyards here produce a lot of excellent wines, Tokay Aszu is by far the favorite here and the wine that locals always love raising their glass to. Tokay Aszu is a popular wine with meals or dessert, in Hungary and also happens to be one of the most popular dessert wines in the entire world.

Tokay Aszu was discovered in the mid 17th century in Hungary, quickly becoming a favorite for many European aristocrats. Even though it was great to the taste, many believed that certain types of the wine had mystical healing powers. Although this was strictly a rumor, it actually helped the wine become more popular than ever. Over the years, Tokay Aszu was one indeed the most popular wine in Hungary, spreading to other areas of the world as well.

Egri Bikaver, also referred to as Bulls Blood is another popular wine found in Hungary. This is another popular wine for locals, and can be found throughout the world as well. Getting it’s name from it’s color, Bulls Blood is truly a feast for anyone who likes wine. The wine is dark red in color, yet sweet to the taste. The wine was first developed back in the 16th century, and remains popular even to this day.

If you ever visit Hungary, there are many places you can visit to get some great wine. You should also make a point to visit Tokay, located in the northeast. You can take a train from Budapest and arrive here in a few hours. There are several different wine flavors and varieties here, sure to please just about anyone. The wineries found throughout the Tokay area are normally open for tours and tasters from May to the end of October. If you visit during these months, you can tour the underground cellars, sample the superb wine, and learn more than you ever thought possible about the manufacturing of Hungarian wines.

All in the all, the wine found in Hungary is great to have in your collection or just have around the house for special occasions. You can get it by the bottle, the glass, or by the case. All types of Hungarian wine has been perfected over the years, making it something that you really can’t go wrong with. If you like to drink wine, as most of us do, you really can’t go wrong with any type of Hungarian wine. Hungarian wine gives wine lovers plenty to study, plenty to order, and plenty to drink. The wine is very tasty and refreshing - and it helps to keep the nation of Hungary thirsty for more.

Visitors who refer to Hungary as a Balkan country risk getting a lecture on how this small, landlocked nation of just over ten million people differs from "all those Slavs". Hungary was likened by the poet Ady to a "river ferry, continually travelling between East and West, with always the sensation of not going anywhere but of being on the way back from the other bank"; and its people identify strongly with the West while at the same time displaying a fierce pride in themselves as Magyars - a race that transplanted itself from Central Asia into the heart of Europe.

Best of Hungary

Danube Bend One of the most enchanting stretches of the River Danube sweeps its way up from Budapest before twisting dramatically through a forested valley towards Slovakia - the views are best appreciated from atop Visegrád Citadel.

Szentendre This once thriving artists' colony, just 19km from Budapest, is now a delightful town boasting some magical museums, great art and a rich Serbian legacy.

Sziget Festival One of Europe's premier rock festivals, held on Sziget Island in Budapest, brings together a host of stars from every musical genre for eight hectic days.

Tihany Peninsula The picturesque village of Tihany, overlooked by a Benedictine abbey, is the jewel in Lake Balaton's crown.

Thermal baths There's no better way to relax than in one of Budapest's magnificent Turkish Baths.

Budapest Zoo The kids will love the animals, whilst the adults will appreciate the fabulous Art Nouveau pavilions they're housed in.

Gundel You'll have to dress the part if you want to dine in Budapest's most celebrated, and most expensive, restaurant.

Statue Park Communism isn't quite dead in this extraordinary Budapest park housing a collection of monumental statues from the old regime.

Watersports on Lake Balaton Siófok and Keszthely are just two of the resorts where you can sail, windsurf or, of course, swim.

Even under Communism, Hungary was renowned for its abundance of food: material proof of the "goulash socialism" that amazed visitors from Romania and the Soviet Union. Nowadays, there is more choice than ever, particularly in Budapest, where almost every cuisine in the world is available.
For foreigners the archetypal Magyar dish is "goulash" - historically the basis of much Hungarian cooking . The ancient Magyars relished cauldrons of gulyás (pronounced "gou-yash"), a soup made of potatoes and whatever meat was available, which was later flavoured with paprika and beefed up into a variety of stews, modified over the centuries by various foreign influences. Hungary's Slav neighbours probably introduced native cooks to yogurt and sour cream - vital ingredients in many dishes - while the influence of the Turks, Austrians and Germans is apparent in a variety of sticky pastries and strudels, as well as recipes featuring sauerkraut or dumplings. Another influence was that of France, which revolutionized Hungarian cooking in the Middle Ages and again in the nineteenth century. Today, the influences are "international", with fast food such as pizzas, hamburgers and kebabs spreading from the capital to provincial towns, and even signs of vegetarian food and nouvelle cuisine .

Breakfast, snacks and takeaway foodAs a nation of early risers, Hungarians like to have a calorific breakfast ( reggeli ). Commonly, this includes cheese, eggs or salami together with bread and jam, and in rural areas is often accompanied by a shot of pálinka ...read more >>

Main mealsTraditionally, Hungarians take their main meal at lunchtime , although the old tendency for restaurants to have fewer dishes available in the evenings has now disappeared. However, it is worth remembering that many places still close early,...read more >>

Coffee houses and patisseriesMany Hungarians like to kick-start the day with coffee , followed by further intakes at various intervals throughout the day, usually in the form of tiny glasses of kávé : super-strong, served black and sweetened to taste, this is a...read more >>

DrinkingHungary's climate and diversity of soils are perfect for wine ( bor ), though cold winters mean that reds are usually on the light side. In the last few years the wine market has really begun to take off, and, though good vintages...read more >>

Wine bars ( borozó ) are ubiquitous and far less pretentious than in the West: the wine served is often pretty rough stuff, and there's usually a cluster of interesting characters round the bar. True devotees of the grape make pilgrimages to the extensive wine cellars ( borospince ) that honeycomb towns like Tokaj and Eger. By day, people often drink wine with water or soda water, specifying a fröccs or a yet more diluted hosszú lépés (literally, a "long step"). Wine can be sweet ( édes ), dry ( száraz ), semi-sweet ( félédes ) or semi-dry ( félszáraz ). Hungarians enjoy the ritual of toasting , so the first word to get your tongue around is egészségedre ("EGG-aish-shaig-edreh") - "cheers!" When toasting more than one other person, it's grammatically correct to change this to egészségünkre ("cheers to us!"). Hungarians only consider it appropriate to toast with wine or spirits. A simpler version that will get you by is szia (see-ya) for one person, and sziasztok (see-ya-stock) for more people.


Hungary
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Badacsony village
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Badacsonyörs
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Balatonalmádi
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Balatonfüred
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Balatonlelle, Kishegy and Balatonboglár
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Balatonszemes
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Balatonszárszó
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Balatonvilágos
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Budapest
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Csopak
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Dobogóko and Dömös
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Esztergom
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Fonyód
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Hévíz
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Keszthely
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Nagybörzsöny, Kóspallag and Márianosztra
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Nagymaros
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Pomáz
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Siófok
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Szentendre
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Szob
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Tihany
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Visegrád
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Vác
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Zebegény