Hungarian Hungarian Wine Challenge – Balaton Gourmet and Wine Festival (Veszprém)
Like lots of people, I love a challenge! In September 2024, I set myself the challenge, while visiting Hungary, of travelling to multiple wine regions, tastings, festivals and other wine events in order to find some of the best wines in the country. The challenge started on 1 September and finished towards the end of the month.
Along the journey there were a number of places I visited. Among them was the Balaton Gourmet and Wine Festival in Veszprém.
About Veszprém
Veszprém is located around 2 hours by train from Budapest. The town has a stunning castle district which dates back to the 10th and 11th Centuries and is architecturally stunning. The castle is on the top of a hill and has a great view over the surrounding area. The town also has a fire look out tower which was constructed to allow the detection of fires in the citadel. The gardens of the tower also house the pantheon of the town.
It is fair to say that most tourists will not venture out to the Balaton Gourmet and Wine Festival. On arrival it was clear that even the people operating the ticket desks did not speak much English, but they were very patient while I exchanged my pre-bought ticket for a glass with which to try samples. The festival itself is a relatively small event with perhaps 30 or 40 stalls supplying a mix of wines or food. Each year it has a different theme, and 2024 was Italian.
Fortunately, the Balaton is an excellent wine region in Hungary, so there were a couple of really great wineries which I really enjoyed spending time at. In particular, I enjoyed the wines from Fehérvári who had a good mix of sparkling and still wines, many of which were very minerally. Also present were Kern wines who have vineyards in both Balaton and in Tokaj. I can recommend both as solid wine producers and worthy of a visit. In particular, I would recommend their sparkling wines.
Wines here were very affordable and the event felt much more like a local event than some of the bigger wine festivals I have attended in Hungary. There was food available to buy, some of which was themed around the Italian theme. Kern also had some very nice sweet wines from the Tokaj region which were very pleasant to drink. It is well worth remembering that many Hungarian wines have higher alcohol levels, and so it is worth pacing yourself a little if you visit a festival like this.
Overall, the atmosphere was very pleasant, there was some light entertainment and food alongside the wine, and the event was well organised. The location for the event was in the valley, which did mean getting to it was a nice downhill stroll and getting back required a bit more effort. The event was so good, I stayed an hour longer than I had planned and caught the last train of the evening back to Budapest. Visiting is very do-able, but I’d recommend buying a ticket in advance, budgeting for food to absorb some of the alcohol and having a clear plan from an online mapping service about which trains / buses you need to catch. The station is quite a walk from the festival, but there are buses which make it a little easier to manage.
So thank you to the organisers and exhibitors at the Balaton Gourmet and Wine Festival. If you are interested, you can find out more about Kern wines at http://www.kernwines.com and about Fehérvári at https://fehervaribirtok.hu/. It isn’t the biggest festival, but its worth a visit and I would go again in the future. If you do visit, let me know! And in the meantime, keep exploring this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time!