Hungarian Wine Challenge – Optimus Etyek (City & Wine tour)
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 Optimus winery in Etyek.
About the winery
For about as long as I have been travelling to Hungary, I have been going on a wine tour which travels from Budapest to Etyek, run by City & Wine. You can use my affiliate link to book the wine tour here. The tour runs in the morning and afternoon with the option for either 2 or 3 winery visits and either lunch or dinner depending on the time of day. The morning is 2 wineries plus lunch and the afternoon is 3 wineries plus dinner.
The Optimus winery is one my favourite wineries in Etyek. The owner is a passionate wine maker who is doing some amazing stuff with the grapes in this region. Péter has been making wines since 2019. He started with the ambition to make sparkling wines, but now also makes some very good still wines as well. If you have never tried a pet nat wine, made using the ancestral method of making sparkling wines, this is a good place to give that a go!
The wines here are very good. And while they are typical varieties of the local area mostly, there are also some other varieties beginning to emerge such as Cabernet Sauvignon. I had a bottle of their Pinot Noir in my case when I returned from Hungary and it really was very well made. I often rate wine makers by their ability to make a decent Pinot Noir. Its a really difficult grape to work with and to bring out the right flavours in. This one was spot on!
The whites are also not lacking. Some really good examples of well known white varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, as well as some lesser known varieties like the királyleányka (or little Princess). All are well made, but not over produced. Péter knows how to turn grape juice into wine and how to do it well. I personally think he is a name to watch and he’s beginning to win awards for the wines.
As I said at the beginning of this article, the original plan was to create sparkling wines. And there are now some great sparkling wines on offer at Optimus. Checking the website in May 2025, there are a standard Brut, a blanc de blancs and a rosé in a tradition method style (think Champagne / Cava) and four different varieties in a Pet Nat style, as well as a ‘fizzy’ wine which is obviously made using a less elaborate method. With that lineup, you could legitimately do just a sparkling wine tasting.
| The winery also has options for food which can be pre-booked with them. Weekend tastings tend to include the sparkling wines, so that is worth knowing. And this winery also have a number of accommodation options located a short walk away. So maybe work staying over on Friday night and exploring some more of Etyek. |
The highlight of visiting this winery is definitely the passion that Péter has. But passion without skill is of course going to result in some poor wines, but Péter fortunately is also highly skilled, so the wines are high quality. He and his wife usually host the tours, but they also have a small team who are all equally skilled. I am never suprised when I see people walking out of the winery with bottles when I’m on a tour, inevitably at least one of people’s top 2 wines is usually from Optimus.
In my view, this is one of the great wineries of Etyek. Its not trying to over-reach like some of the bigger names. They are focused on producing high quality wine which allows the varieties to express themselves fully. Its a step up from the entry level wines which are available and in particular the sparkling and red wines are worth tasting (not that the white’s aren’t, they are also very good).
Personally, I always look forward to seeing Péter. He’s always happy to talk wine. And I’m always keen to see what he is working on, because I’m usually sure its going to be great when its ready. Winemakers like Péter are why I travel and visit wineries.
Overall, the wines here speak for themselves. And the hospitality is very good as well. I’d put this winery on the list if you are thinking about visiting Etyek!
I have never quite found the time or courage to try to arrange my own visit, but it is possible to get the bus from Budapest out to Etyek and walk between wineries. The great thing about the City & Wine tour, though is that besides the obvious door to door transport, you get to meet different people on each tour from all over the world, drink great wine together and share the experience. That’s probably why I keep rebooking!
So if you want to visit the Optimus winery, its definitely worth a trip to Etyek. The way the City & Wine tour works is there are multiple wineries, so its not guaranteed you will visit on every tour. So to be absolutely sure, you’d need to arrange you own visit. But you can do so using Hellowine.com – Just click here (not an affiliate link). If you do plan a visit, let them know I recommended them. And in the meantime, keep enjoying this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time.