Greeting


Dear Reader,

The presentation of over fifteen hundred wine varieties and three hundred winemakers, the work of a twenty-onemember jury, several weeks of meticulous preparation every year, two days’ work of an impartial jury and a magnificent awards gala: these are the key figures and quantitative indicators of the wine competition, launched by the House of Parliament eight years ago. Defying the spirit of our age with its penchant for forgetting the past, we sought to start a tradition by establishing the Wine of the House competition, since we truly believe that what belongs together really grows together.

And indeed, the House of Parliament and our country’s finest wines are bound together by the Hungarian ideal of quality, hence the necessity to bring them together within the framework of our competition. By now, this wine competition – just like good wine ennobling over the years – has matured and become not only a supporter of high-quality domestic wine production but also a recognised and important initiator and participant in Hungarian wine diplomacy. Our respect for the past and the recommendation of professional circles led us to include sparkling wine, this special wine derivative, in a separate category from this year to restore the former prestige and popularity of Hungarian sparkling wine production and to promote the good reputation of our excellent sparkling wines. For eight years, the Wine of the House has proudly proclaimed the lasting value of Hungarian winemaking. A testament to this is this year’s publication, which I hope you will enjoy reading.

László Kövér
Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly

The Wine of the Hungarian Parliament competition

Being one of Hungary’s trademarks, high quality Hungarian wine has been a worthy emissary for our country for centuries now. The Wine of the Hungarian Parliament competition was established to select wines of outstanding quality, suitable to represent the Hungarian National Assembly at parliamentary receptions. Keeping the highest quality requirements at the forefront, we welcome entries from wineries located in one of Hungary’s historical wine regions and focussing on Hungarian wine-making tradition. Candidates can enter with bottled quality wines and bottled wines with special attributes which comply with Hungarian regulations and are commercially distributed in Hungary.

The categories of wine grape varieties and blends are as follows: olaszrizling, furmint, other whites, kékfrankos, bikavér, cabernet franc, kadarka, tokaji aszú.

Some of the category-winner wines from 2017The wines were evaluated based on the positive evaluation method of 100 points that was developed by U.I.O.E. and O.I.V. and recommended by the Les Grands Concours Internationaux de Vins et Spiritueux. The jury consisted of Hungarian and foreign experts with expansive experience in tasting and evaluation; most of them are DipWSET-certified, having earned their diploma from the London Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).

The Wine of the Hungarian Parliament competition debuted in 2017 with the aim of starting a tradition, and was held with the participation of wineries from 13 historical wine regions of Hungary, as well as a nominee from Arad-hegyalja. In its first year a total of 147 entries from 81 wineries competed in the eight announced categories, while 160 bottles of 90 wineries from 17 wine regions entered the competition in 2018. In 2019, 19 of 22 wine regions applied, while 113 wineries with 203 entries took part in the competition for the honorary title of Wine of the Hungarian Parliament 2019. In 2020 231 wines from 18 wine regions were judged by the jury. In 2021 218 wines of 93 wineries from 19 wine regions competed for the title. In 2022 19 wine regions applied, 89 wineries with 181 wines.

The statuette awarded to the grand prix winner of The Wine of the Hungarian Parliament competition features one of the female figures of the sculptural ensemble of viticulture found in the old Upper House lounge. The three-figural composition made iThe statuette, which awarded to the grand prix winner of The Wine of the Hungarian Parliament competitionn Vilmos Zsolnay’s workshop was placed in such a distinguished location for good reason: Imre Steindl, the designer of the Parliament building, intended to draw the attention of the parliamentary representatives of the time to the prominence of Hungarian viniculture. The MPs did their job well since Hungarian legislators created a solid foundation for the country’s viniculture and oenology in the modern history of Hungary, which even the darkest periods of dictatorship could not dismantle.

The Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly established the prize to honour those who win this prominent title with their excellent wines.

Legislative background

During the 19th century, the Hungarian National Assembly passed two pieces of legislation that laid the legal foundation for traditional wine production. Act XXIII of 1893 was the first regulation by which the state protected the interests of Hungarian winemakers against wine doctoring. Then, stipulated by Act XII of 1894, the national council of hill communities was formed and then became the cornerstone of high quality wine production in Hungary. Thanks to these legislative measures, the Hungarian state consolidated domestic viniculture.

A woman during grape harvesting