Our Take on National Wine and Cheese Day

Although the celebration of wine and cheese, the perfect pairing, started in the United States on July 25 in 2014, Hungarians have good reason to toast, too. The National Wine and Cheese Festival was originally founded with the unconcealed aim of raising awareness of the perfect flavor combination of quality cheese and wine in a country with an extremely high rate of obesity –reports Foodyny.

The pairing of wine and cheese goes back a long way, and probably originated in the Brie region of France, where local wine producers and artisan cheese makers have been offering their special cheeses, along with their unrivaled wines, for centuries. They believed that the tannin content of wine and the aged flavor of cheese enhances the gastronomic experience.

Even if the Hungarian cheese culture does not have as deep roots or far-famed tradition as the Swiss, French, Italian, German, or even the Dutch do, the trends on the foreign market are proof that there is no reason to be modest.

Our cheese exports are growing rapidly, and the ever-wider distribution radius also shows that our cheese range can remain competitive in solvent markets that demand high quality and can afford it.

A long-established belief that the Hungarian consumer prefers only one type of cheese, the Trappista, and is not interested in specialty cheeses, is a throwback to a bygone era. Even if there was once some basis in reality for this statement, and Trappista cheese still accounts for the majority of our cheese consumption, it is not true that the modest supply of the domestic dairy industry is to blame for this situation, according to Agrárágazat.

Hungarian cheeses that have been in demand on foreign markets too, range from Kashkaval and Emmental cheeses (Pannonia cheese, for example), the camembert-type cheeses, through Anikó, Óvári, Ilmici, Parmesan and marble cheeses, to the self-promoting Pálpusztai, reminding us of the Slovak Quark in its aroma, to name but a few of the cheeses from the domestic range since the 1970s.

In addition to the traditional cheese factories, some of our manufactories are now entering the international arena, such as

the Etyek Goat Cheese Manufactory, having achieved an outstanding result, a super gold and two bronze awards for its products at last year’s World Cheese Awards, one of the most prestigious world cheese competitions.

The three products from the Etyek Goat Cheese Manufactory came out on top in this year’s competition in Wales, with the family-owned company taking home one super gold and two bronze awards, according to their Facebook page, Forbes online reports.

The Etyeki Night Brew received the super gold award for the best in its category, while the Etyeki Brew and the Etyeki Ifjonc were awarded bronze.

Last year, the Baracskai semi-hard “Old” cheese from the Csíz Cheese Manufactory, run by Anita Kun and György Réthy, won a super gold award.

When it comes to pairing one’s cheese with wine, there are a number of sites that help navigate gastro tourists on their venture, such as this one.

In addition to Tokaj aszú, one of the best-known naturally sweet wines in the world, a number of Hungarian wines can now be seen on the international map,

and competition is getting fierce domestically as well.

The Circle of Hungarian Winewriters has evaluated the dry and semi-dry white and red wines made by Hungarian producers that its members have tasted over the past year, and based on their experiences, they have compiled their “Super 12” list of the top ones, Gusto reported early this year.

The winners of the Hungarian Wine Grand Prix 2022 were selected at a blind tasting, and this time they were the Septimus Rajnai Rizling 2019 from Cseri Winery in Pannonhalma and the GT 50 Cuvée 2019 from the Tamás Günzer Winery in Villány.

This is the first time in the history of the award that Pannonhalma has won the prize, while Villány is winner for the fourth time, and Tamás Günzer is the first winemaker in the history of the award to make it a second time around as grand prize winner for Hungarian red wine.

The two lists are made up of the following white and red wines (in alphabetical order):

WHITE SUPER 12:
BALASSA PINCE Tokaji Furmint 2019 Szent Tamás (Tokaj)
BARTA PINCE KVG Furmint-Hárslevelű 2021 (Tokaj)
CSERI PINCÉSZET Septimus Rajnai Rizling 2019 (Pannonhalma)
FIGULA Köves 2020 (Balatonfüred-Csopak)
HOLDVÖLGY Meditation Király Furmint 2018 (Tokaj)
KŐSZIKLÁS BORÁSZAT Juhfark 2021 (Neszmély)
PAJZOS TOKAJ Furmint Selection 2019 (Tokaj)
PÁLFFY GYULA Fekete-hegy Olaszrizling 2020 (Balatonfelvidék)
PLANINA BORHÁZ White Kadarka 2021 (Pécs)
ST. ANDREA Mária 2019 (Eger)
SZABÓ ZOLTÁN Rajnai Rizling 2021 (Pécs)
VILLA SANDAHL Oh Deer Rajnai Rizling 2018 (Badacsony)

RED SUPER 12:
A. GERE Fekete Járdovány 2019 (Villány)
ALMAGYAR ÉRSEKI SZŐLŐBIRTOK Kadarka Superior 2020 (Eger)
ESZTERBAUER Grand 2017 (Szekszárd)
GÜNZER TAMÁS GT 50 2019 (Villány)
PANNONHALMI APÁTSÁGI PINCÉSZET Infusio 2019 (Pannonhalma)
PÉCSI EGYETEMI BORBIRTOK Summa Merlot 2020 (Pécs)
SEBESTYÉN Iván Bikavér 2019 (Szekszárd)
ST ANDREA Agapé Nagy-Eged-hegy Grand Superior Bikavér 2017 (Eger)
TAKLER Szenta-hegy Cabernet Franc 2018 (Szekszárd)
VESZTERGOMBI Alpha 2017 (Szekszárd)
VON BEÖTHY PINCE Kékfrankos Várkút-dűlő Selection 2018 (Badacsony)
VYLYAN Mandulás Cabernet Franc 2017 (Villány)

Happy National Wine and Cheese Day to Everyone and enjoy our delicacies, if you get the chance!

Featured image: Pexels.com