Ferenc Vesztergombi received the Hungarian Wine Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award this year

István Nagy drew attention to the fact that the work of every winemaker is also a creation. And wine is a strong professional and national alliance that connects us. Furthermore, Hungarian winemakers are not competitors, but partners, and they always encourage each other to perform better.

According to the minister, cooperation is still very much needed now, as the grape and wine sector is facing numerous challenges. That is why the Ministry of Agriculture continues to deal with subsidies affecting the area at a strategic level. The Strategic Plan of Hungary’s Common Agricultural Policy provides several support options. The ministry supports, for example, the modernization of vineyards, investments, but also promotion and innovation. This year, 28 million euros are available for these purposes, he added.

Ferenc Vesztergombi’s work and life are characterized by tradition, responsibility and quality – István Nagy praised the winemaker in his welcoming speech. He mentioned that Ferenc Vesztergombi re-bottled the overlooked and “bottom-shelf” Kadarka as a quality wine in Szekszárd. He and his colleagues revived the Szekszárd Hegyközség, in whose activities he also took an active role. The winemaker’s life and professional work show the way like a lamp for the entire sector. He was personally committed to preserving wine varieties that were disappearing, and he played a major role in saving Szekszárdi Bikavér as a brand name. It was the first family cellar in the wine region to bottle the re-licensed Szekszárdi Bikavér. “The most important thing is that Ferenc Vesztergombi can be sure of the continuation: what he has built, there is someone who will carry on, just as he carried on the legacy of his father and ancestors,” the minister underlined.