Eger Food & Wine : Wine Tours

Hungarian Food and Wine go back many centuries…

The Carpathian basin is blessed with the perfect climate and soil to grow superb grapes and gift Hungary with great wines, some so unique, they can not be reproduced anywhere else in the world. There are 22 distinguished wine regions in Hungary.

The world renown Bulls Blood comes from the Eger region and the sweet Aszu wines are from Tokaj, both located in the hills of the Northern Uplands. The extraordinary village of Hajos in the Great Plains region has over a thousand wine cellars owned by locals. The friendly folks of this area will happily invite you in to sample their tasty products. Enjoy the ruby red wines of Villany in the Transdanubia area and the wine regions of Lake Balaton will also offer any visitor great wine choices, local culture and nature all at once. These are only a few examples for those that are truly interested in the country’s wine culture. Visits to vineyards and cellars could be a multiple day trip on it’s own or it could be combined with your other Hungarian tour activities.

The cultural landscape of Tokaj has a long tradition of producing wine in this region of low hills and river valleys. The many vineyards, farms, villages and small towns, with their historic networks of deep wine cellars and underground paths, is an example of the history of the famous Tokaj wines, the quality which has been strictly enforced for nearly 300 years. On this short break you will discover these historic towns and wine routes with a private local guide. Along the way you will get a chance to visit wineries for a sample.

Thummerer Cellar is an excellent wine-growing in Eger wine-area. They have won several national prize with their wines. The program begins with visiting 3 cellar branches, while the visitors can see the life of an operating winery. You can follow the life of the wine from the arriving of the grapes to the filling of the bottles. Visitors can buy wine in the cellar and taste wine directly from the casks.

After the Turkish occupation Fenessy György returned to Eger, and he bought two lands in the civil town. He started to build a palace from stones, which were picked out from the hill behind the lands. In that way a huge cellar system was formed, where the tithe of the wines were stored. The cellar system was reached under the town from Gate Hatvan to Gate Rác through 3 km. After the nationalization in 1947. the cellar system wasn't in use, its condition was getting worse. In the middle of the 80-ies it was strengthen by ferroconcrete construction, the very dangerous parts were filled in. But it was a big fault that they didn't insulate the tunnel system against rain, therefore we can find stalactite and stalagmite because of the oozing ground water and lime of the stones. The town under the town can be found if we pass Széchenyi Street through the Archbishop-yard, behind the Archbishop's palace.