Let’s have a festival!

Wine competitions and festivals are becoming synonyms, though the two things are quite different, as their purpose and form is quite different. 300 wine competitions are held in Hungary annually. However, great differences exist between these events. There are those intended only for the profession, where analysis dominates over competition. .There are competitions organised for a specific type like Kadarka, Furmint, or Olaszrizling, where analysis by the jury can be very educational for producers. No tricks are used at these events, as there is no point in cheating. And there are also commercial wine competitions, where the idea is to inform consumers and retailers about different wines. Rankings convey the message that a higher score means a better wine and many consumers decide which wine to buy on the basis of such rankings. This is a mistake. Wine tests of consumer magazines are similar. In commercial competitions, wines should be obtained from the store shelves, because wines available to the consumer should be compared. The jury should also be truly independent, as it is quite undesirable to have winemakers passing judgement over their own product, or over their competitor’s product. There is also geographical hierarchy between competitions, with local, regional, national and international levels. VINITALY, VINEXPO, London Wine and The Bruxelles Wine Competition are the leading international events. Wine festivals have become trendy events. A great abundance of such events is held all over the country, with great differences between the standard of various events. It is often disputed, whether we really need so many wine festivals, or not. Not all festivals are like the one held in Buda Castle. Whereas wine festivals had originally been intended to be events where winemakers meet, they have become events where consumers enjoy themselves.