Wine producing areas and enological tourism in the Pannonian Wine Region

Following the systemic changes wine production in Hungary has decreased significantly. In parallel, the production of quality wines has slowly replaced mass production. Present study introduces the wineroutes and wine producing areas of South Transdanubia, presents the best practices of wine tourism, and the regionallevel enological and wine tourism cooperation that was established under the name of Pannonian Wine Region. The types and main activities of the wineroutes are also presented. 

1.  Introduction

Wine producing areas and wine tourism in Hungary

Enological tourism, i.e. wine tourism is a breakout point for Hungarian wine makers. Attractive programmes, smart representation and, not last, good wines are able to create an attraction that will invite tourists to the respective settlements [1]. The other side of the question is the employment [2], which is a labourintensive sector, but thisis beyond thetopic of this paper, due to its complexity.

Hungarian wines used to have considerable import markets toward the Baltic region, now it is only a few larger producers, apart from the specialities of the Tokaj wine producing area, that export abroad (Danubiana Zrt.). The region had a considerable volume of export to the Chinese market, especially in 2010–2013 but the transitions in the world economy eliminated this possibility. The wine producing areas in Hungary have practically halved in the last 10–15 years, now they make a total of approximately 60,000–70,000 hectares. Hungarian wine export dropped by a quarter, to less than 450,000 hectolitres, while the average price of Hungarian wines abroad is 1$. The main source of the problem is that Hungary is simply unable to produce a constant quality of its excellent wines, so it has no chance of increasing its export in an international relation [3].

In the recent years the market has been dumped with lower and lower middle class, cheap wines from America, but they are not a significant competition to the local Hungarian wines.

Hungary has diverse and special endowments in its wine producing areas, unique features, touristic supply and a broad range of wine species across the producing areas. Settlements involved in wine tourism are connected by wine routes: in 2005 there were 32 registered wine routes in the 22 wine producing areas in Hungary. 

2.  Characteristics of the Hungarian wineroute associations 

Hungarian wine routes are integrated by the MABOSZ (Magyar Borutak Országos Szövetsége, National Association of Hungarian Wine Routes) established in 2003.

When starting their wok, the Association laid down general expectations against wine routes. The most important of these are as follows:

• the wine route is a complex touristic product;
• it has special, unique attractions and supply;
• it operates as a single organised unit;
• sales of wines is promoted by community wine marketing;
• wine route service providers are qualified [4].

By meeting these expectations wine routes will definitely meet international touristic demands. Wine routes can be classified into 3 different types: they can be open (Lower Mátra Wine Route), thematic (PécsMecsek Wine Route) and classic (Villány-Siklós Wine Route). It is important to remark that it was Villány where the qualification system designed for quality wines was first used, which distinguished between two categories of quality wines on the basis of production technology and yield: they are «classicus» and «premium» categories.

The 22 wine producing areas in Hungary belong to 5 wine regions. It is important to note that only three of these have actually been «registered» by the decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). They are the following wine regions:

• Balaton Wine Region, whose organisational and operational rules are regulated by Decree 62/2006. (7 September) of the MARD.
• Danubian Wine Region, organisational and operational rules regulated by Decree No. 10/2006. (3 February) of the
• Pannonian Wine Region, organisational and operational rules regulated by Decree No. 142/2008. (31 October) of the

The following units are treated as wine regions, although not specified by law yet:

• North Transdanubian Wine
• North Hungarian Wine Region [5].

3.  Wine producing areas and enological tourism in the Pannonian Wine Region

The Pannonian Wine Region almost perfectly overlaps with the territory of the South Transdanubian touristic region. 

Wine producing areas of the region are characterised by outstanding enological activity, its production areas have excellent natural endowments, and the wine producing areas yield top quality wines in each category, from dry white wines to full-bodied red wines.

The Hungarian tendering system allowed the creation of the South Transdanubian Wine Tourism Cluster on 1 September 2010, assisted by the Pécs-Mecsek Wine Route Public Association. Its activities include organisation of trainings on wine production and wine tourism, organisation of wine tastings, organisation and implementation of events promoting wines and gastronomy, making local touristic packages and doing other marketing activities.

The wine producing areas of the Pannonian Wine Region are as follows:

• Tolna wine producing area,
• Szekszárd wine producing area,
• Pécs wine producing area,
• Villány wine producing area. 

1. The Tolna wine producing area and its wine tourism 

The Tolna wine producing area used to be part of the Szekszárd producing area. After their parting both the wine producing area and the Tolna wine route had difficult times, it is only the recent years when «something started» and some cooperation willingness can be seen on the part of the organisations in the wine producing area.

The Tolna wine producing area consist of the following districts: Tolna district, Völgység district, Tamási district.

Typical sorts are: Italian Riesling, Királyleányka (Princess), Green Veltelini, Chardonnay, Rizlingszilváni, Kadarka, Blue Francs, Zweigelt, Merlot. 

The Tolna Wine Route

The Tolna Wine Route is an open wine route, as the wine route stations are scattered all over the three districts of the Tolna wine producing area. Of the 48 settlements in the wine route, 14 have qualified service providers, but the wine route integrating the settlements cannot be walked as a contiguous route.

The centre of the wine route is Kölesd, but Györköny and Paks have strengthened their positions too in the recent years, and the number of settlements involved has increased. The Tolna Wine Route preserves the built heritage of several cellar villages (in Györköny, Paks, Bölcske, Dunaföldvár and Nagymányok), which may be the main locations of the services, but their capacity utilisation is low and their condition is continuously worsening.

Now it is only events of local significance when larger numbers of visitors are received in the cellars [3]. The fame of the wine route is promoted by two large wineries, and no famous small-scale wine producers (Danubiana Bt. and 140 Eurobor Kft.), but wine tourism is by far not the main focus of the activity of these two companies. The wine route has no small and medium-sized family wineries, and the operation of the Wine Route Association is not really effective, either [6–9]. 

2. The Szekszárd wine producing area and its wine tourism 

Many do not know that the original home of the famous Bikavér (Bull’s Blood) is Szekszárd. The Szekszárd Wine Route is a thematic wine route, culture loving tourists are attracted here by arts, music and literature traditions, while many friends of hunting are attracted into the area by the world famous stock of games in the Gemenc forest.

Typical sorts are Italian Riesling, Rizlingszilváni, Chardonnay, Green Veltelini, Sauvignon Blanc, Kadarka, Blue Francs, Cabernet Francs, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Zweigelt, (Bull’s Blood of Szekszárd, Kadarka of Szekszárd). 

The Szekszárd Wine Route

Of the 15 settlements of the wine producing area, only 6 has qualified service providers, but several other settlements participate in the operation of the wine route as patrons. The central settlement is Szekszárd, offering the majority (68 %) of the wine route services. Wine makers with great achievements in Hungary and abroad make the wine route famous, which fame may be further strengthened by the wine route service providers who have been awarded the prestigious title called «Wine producer of the year» (Ferenc Vesztergombi in 1993; Ferenc Takler in 2004; Péter Vida in 2011). Vineyards are separated by many small scattered farms. The acknowledgement of the Szekszárd wine producing area has improved a lot in the recent years, due to marketing campaigns built on special products (e.g. Fuxli, a Szekszárd Siller), and also owing to excellent performance in international wine competitions. An organisation operating besides the Szekszárd Wine Route is the Szekszárd Wine Region Non-profit Public Limited., which, together with the Szekszárd Winemakers Guild, pursues several activities that could also be the tasks of the wine route. One of the most prestigious wine gastronomy even of Szekszárd and also of the whole region is the Szekszárd Vintage Days.

3. The Pécs wine producing area and its wine tourism 

The Pécs Wine Producing Area was given this name in 2000 and now covers less than 600 hectares. The Mediterranean climate typical of Baranya makes the whole country an excellent area for viticulture, allowing considerable viticultural and wine producing activities in the wine producing area. The orography of the county is characterised by hills and mountains succeeding each other from Dunaszekcső to Szigetvár. Base rocks (loess, sand, limestone and granite) and the soils formed on them (forest soil and chernozem soil) have positive impact on the growth of vines, providing the minerals and nutrients necessary for the plants. The wine producing area has traditions in making white wine, but beautiful red wines are not rare, either. The most typical sorts of grapes producing white wines are Cirfandli — it can produce dry and semi-sweet wine as well, depending on the year — Italian Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, while  sorts from which red wine is made include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Kadarka and Merlot in larger quantity [10].

The Pécs wine producing area covers the hillsides ranging from the Mecsek Mountains to Mohács. 

The Pécs-Mecsek Wine Route

The Pécs-Mecsek Wine Route was founded in October 2005, in order to integrate the wine makers of the Pécs producing area and the wine tourism service providers operating here. It spans from SzigetvárTurbék to Mecseknádasd, its centre is Pécs, core areas are the Szigetvár and the Pécs districts, with their supplementary touristic supply being the settlements of the South Zselic and the Baranya Hill Ridge, Orfű– Abaliget–Magyarhertelend–Sikonda, and the East Mecsek Mountains. Among the members of the PécsMecsek Wine Route Public Association there are 33 qualified service providers. A new direction of development in 2013 is that the Pécs-Mecsek Wine Route as one single association has become responsible for the promotion of the Pécs wine producing area as a whole, and the fusion long awaited by professionals with the other wine route of the wine producing area, the Mohács-Bóly White Wine Route has finally been achieved. 

The Mohács-Bóly White Wine Route

The Mohács-Bóly White Wine Route, as the name implies, is specialised on white wines and the related events, while spatially it is concentrated on the Versend district, so among the wine route types it can be classified into the group of thematic wine routes [3, 9, 11]. Among the 33 settlements of the wine producing area we find 11 (and one other outside the producing area) with wine route service providers,. This is the wine route that achieved the largest growth in the number of service providers, 50 % from 2000 to 2006, since then the number has more or less stagnated. The two central settlements of the wine route boast of the largest number of service providers, Bóly and Mohács integrates 25 % and 18 % of them, respectively. Wine makers in this wine route have not achieved any major success in national competitions yet, but the ethnic diversity and the related folk traditions and events make the wine route really special. This wine route also has cellar villages (in Máriakéménd, Szederkény, Bóly and Nagynyárád); their utilisation has been partially started. 

4. The Villány wine producing area and its wine tourism 

«Villány is the home of full-bodied, fiery red wines. Beautiful nature, climate, the busy and skilful people living here, their hospitality, and the high expectations against the wines have deservedly made the red wines of Villány famous both internationally and in Hungary» (www.villany.hu). The Villány-Siklós Wine Route integrating Villány and other famous settlements — Villánykövesd, Palkonya, Kisharsány, Nagyharsány, Siklós — is the first wine route of Hungary.

The districts of the Villány wine producing area are: Villány district and Siklós district.

Typical sorts include Linden Leaf, Furmint, Italian Riesling (Italian Riesling of Siklós), Blue Francs, Zweigelt, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Portugieser (Portugieser of Villány) [9]. 

The Villány-Siklós Wine Route

The Villány-Siklós Wine Route is a classic wine route. It was the first to be established in Hungary, and has served as an example for the other wine routes of South Transdanubia. Of the 16 settlements in the wine route there are 7 with service providers, and there is one extra-wine route settlement with service providers as well [3, 4, 9, 12]. The centres of the wine route are Villány and Siklós, with the dominance of Villány as regards the breakdown of service providers (68 %). The number of service providers in the wine route decreased by 30 % from 2000 to 2006, followed by some increase and then stagnation. The fame of the wine route is owed to the wine makers who have achieved Hungarian and international recognitions, to large extent by the four persons who have been awarded the title «Wine maker of the year» (Ede Tiffán in 1991, Attila Gere in 1994, Zoltán Polgár in 1996 and József Bock in 1997).

Summary

The wineroutes of South Transdanubia have reacted well to the problems raised by the economic-social changes of the 1990s. It is this region where the first wineroute of Central Europe was established (Villány), the positive example of which encouraged the establishment and successful operation of further 5 wineroutes in the region.

First in Hungary, under the name of Pannonian Wine Region a regional-level cooperation of the wine producing areas has been launched. The establishment of the regional wine tourism cluster is also an innovative initiative. Wineroute associations, by introducing new elements of social media marketing and developing innovative wine tourism offers helped successfully the qualitative development of the viticulture and wine-growing sector.

Consumer behaviour has changed positively. Customers (both local residents and tourist) turned their attention to local produce. This process, amplified by the successful wine tourism practices, contributes significantly to the qualitative and quantitative development of the wine-growing sector.

References 

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