Hungarian Wine Regions

The next tasting: Monday 18th October 2010 - Hungary

Presented by Vivienne Franks

Only two European languages have words for wine that are not derived from Latin: Greek and Hungarian. Records carved in a Runic alphabet used by ancient Hungarians have words for wine derived from Turkic, suggesting that the Magyars had contact with the first winemakers in the South Caucasus. The Romans brought vines to Pannonia, and by the 5th century AD, there are records of extensive vineyards in Hungary.

Vivienne Franks will provide a more contempary commentary on wines from Hungary. Vivienne is a wine educator and writer who teaches for The Wine Education Service, for the WSET School and for Leith's School of Food and Wine. Vivienne regularly judges for The International Wine and Spirit Competition and International Wine Challenge. In addition she is a frequent panel taster for the Decanter magazine. She has travelled widely throughout the world’s wine regions, and she particularly enjoys sharing her fascination with the lesser-known European wines from Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.