Gergely Gulyás: our country has made great progress in the field of quality champagne production

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Gergely Gulyás emphasized that many people in Hungary have done a lot in the past period to ensure that sparkling wines are competitive with French champagne and stand their ground on the international stage. He called the pairing of champagne with food an important opportunity for progress in Hungarian gastronomy, which could lead to a further increase in consumption. The minister pointed out that the consumption of wine and champagne is decreasing in Europe, while it is fashionable to drink champagne in Hungary, the sector is booming, but at the same time “young generations do not drink alcohol like their parents and grandparents”, which poses a great challenge to producers. The amount of alcohol consumption is not decreasing, but mixed drinks have appeared on the market, so it is a big challenge to sell quality drinks such as champagne in Hungary, he pointed out.

The national wine strategy is ready

Pál Rókusfalvy, the government commissioner responsible for national wine marketing, indicated that the national wine strategy was completed in the form of a 600-page book, which was preceded by many studies and research. As he said, they wanted to create material that includes not only marketing, but also educational, gastronomic and tourism tasks. He emphasized that the primary goal of the strategy is to increase wine sales and to create new categories in addition to narrowing the product structure. The government commissioner announced that beer accounts for 40 percent of the world’s alcohol consumption market, spirits for 30 percent, and wine for 23 percent. All of this marks the direction for the domestic wine and champagne producers, especially getting to know and following the tastes of young people and their alcohol consumption habits can mean an increase in consumption for the sector.

Hungarian champagne is experiencing a renaissance

Zsolt Feldman, the State Secretary responsible for agriculture and rural development at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that 5 percent of the wine produced in Hungary will become champagne, which means 140-160 thousand hectoliters annually. He stated that there is a renaissance for Hungarian champagne, more and more people, today nearly 200 wineries produce champagne, most of the production is covered by the Upper Pannonian and Danube wine regions. The state secretary noted that Hungarian wine imports have been stagnant for years, while champagne imports have increased somewhat, which indicates the growing domestic demand for champagne. The largest markets for Hungarian champagne exports – both in terms of value and volume – are Canada, Romania, Estonia, Sweden and Latvia, but the value of imported champagne is much higher than that of exported products, which will pose serious challenges for the sector in the future.

MTI