Brief introduction to VinCE 2011, the most prestigious Central European event

Q VinCE is a Central European wine event – from , Slovenia, Serbia, , Romania, Austria. Q From international aspect – Hungary and Central Europe can be measured only if the other part of the wine world is present as well, therefore there will be from and masterclasses based on Californian, Chilean, French, Italian, Spanish and other wines. Q Tokaj and –liquid gold from two regions, Sauternes is the most celebrated, but Tokaj deserves attention as well. A masterclass with stunning treasures. Q The of the Millenium – this title went to Billecart-Salmon, who will present its beautiful champagne in Budapest. After the masterclass one can taste the also traditional Hungarian sparkling wines in the wine exhibition area. Q Woodoo or science? The French cult winemaker Olivier Humbrecht MW will hold a lectore on biodynamic with the tasting of his wines from Alsace. After the workshop Hungarian biodynamic wines can be tasted in the wine exhibition area. QThe legend of California, the winner of the shocking Paris Tasting 1976, Mr Warren Winiarski will come to Budapest and show the development of his country’s wines.

THE MOST DELICIOUS TASTE OF HUNGARY PASS FOR WINELOVERS Masterclasses of Hungarian grape varieties, the exhibition of the best wineries – a With a Winelover Ticket people can enjoy masterclasses, workshops and delicious introduction to Hungary! Interpreters for every lecture and masterclass are for two whole days. There are other ticket combinations as well, every wine person can provided. choose the one which fits the best.

ONLY SELECTED EXHIBITORS PÁLINKA AND ARTISAN PRODUCTS VinCE invites wineries which had previously proved their quality in a tasting In addition to wine, we also intend to highlight pálinka with the best distilleries presenting with at least one 4 or 5 star result. Therefore our guests can be sure of tasting only high their products. The event also hosts further gourmet products such as cheese, olive oil quality wine. and extraordinary sausages just to mention a few.

A MEETING PLACE FOR MASTERS OF WINE TASTING ZONE – THEMATIC ROOM A most important feaure of VinCE: the event welcomes the celebrated foreign experts A special showcase of wines is open for professionals. Members of wine trade and of wine. The most experienced „masters”, the scholars of the London Master of Wine HoReCa can taste wines undisturbed in a room dedicated to them. Institute visited the events last year and will be present again – with even more members.

SHERRY Q CHILE'S TREASURES Q CONTINUOUS WINE COURSES FOR BEGINNERS PLUS: Q WEB-SEMINAR FOR WINEMAKERS Q FROM FATHER TO SON Q THE EFFECTS OF THE BARREL What, for Whom, Where?

As suggested by its name, the primary focus of the event is wine (as in vin) share with their guests at the table. Restaurant owners are given the chance to compile exhibited in Central Europe (CE). 120 wineries are scheduled to take part in the two-day- their full wine list during the event selecting from among the best bottles. For those who event with exhibitors coming from Hungary and the neighbouring countries but some still study wine, the exhibition is nothing less than the knowledge centre of wine. winemakers from outside the region will also offer their bottles for tasting. Winemakers will finally receive the long-awaited answers and potential solutions to their Besides displaying an awesome cornucopia of wines, the exhibition also offers seated most questions and problems. tastings – masterclasses – lectures and interactive workshops where wine lovers may sip In Central Europe, that is to say in Hungary, the heart of the region with both wine and knowledge, while wineries receive up-to-date information and efficient great wine-making traditions. The lively capital, Budapest is an attractive centre for assistance. conferences and a wide range of events: the festivals and programmes hosted by the city While serving an unparalleled experience for wine lovers, VinCE is a must for enjoy huge popularity all over the world. The venue, the lavish five-star hotel in centrally all stakeholders of the profession. may meet winemakers face-to-face and the located Elisabeth avenue also contributes to the success of the event by providing a experience they gain during tasting together might later become entertaining stories to worthy setting for the most beautiful wines. VinCE 2011 presented by Decanter magazine Hungary Budapest, Corinthia Hotel Budapest March 19-20 2011

„... this weekend provided a great chance to update myself on some of Hungary’s best wines. ” „...I can honestly and thoroughly recommend any Szepsy wine, though among dry wines, the individual bottlings such as Szent Tamás (St Thomas) are by far the most exciting, have real potential to age, and deserve a place in any fine wine lover’s cellar..” Jancis Robinson MW, United Kingdom a guest of VinCE 2010

Presented by Decanter Hungary VinCE 2011 – The Age of Enlightment

MASTERCLASSES, WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES

TOKAJ OR SAUTERNES? – What is a proper webshop like and how to set it up? Start your own A tasting offering different from Tokaj and Sauternes webshop step by step. including ’6 puttonyos’ aszus from Tokaj and different wines from – In addition to wine writers, a host of unsolicited advocates: wine Sauternes. Tokaj and Sauternes are two pearls of the wine world, bloggers have started to voice their virtual opinions. Shall we take participants can enjoy unforgettable wines from both wine region! them seriously or are they nothing more than the disturbing ‘white Pierre Montégut (Suduiraut, Sauternes) and István Szepsy will noise’ described by Robert Parker? How can we reach the most introduce their vintages. influential wine bloggers of the world and make them write about us? Ryan Opaz, American blog media expert now reveals the secret. THE LEGEND OF CALIFORNIA – ‘If you’re not on Facebook, you actually don’t exist’. Well, even if this They were taking hamburgers and coke and all of a sudden they beat is not exactly true, the case is that successful and useful campaigns Bordeaux. The 1976 Paris Tasting simply shocked the world when an may be launched on community websites. But how to launch such a unknown red, Cask 23 humiliated the Grand crus of Bordeaux winning campaign? You can learn it now by studying the latest, most successful hands down. What factors brought about this amazing success? What international campaigns. difficulties did Californian winemakers have to face in the beginning? – An extraordinary solution to survive the crisis: nakedwines.com, an What is their secret? The living legend, the father of Cask 23, Warren e-tailor which takes small wineries under its wings. The secret of the Winiarski himself gives an account of the true story of the Paris Tasting unprecedented success of this webshop is due to its transparency and while also presenting the tapestry of Californian wines from Cask 23 to community – but listen to the whole story from the most authentic Opus One. source: the founder, Rowan Gormley from Great Britain. By casting your vote, you may also have your say in which Hungarian wine TREASURES OF THE BALKAN should make its way to the supply of Naked Wines. [ha:0levelo] [t0ersegi fu:sere0] – foreigners have to try to read these signs if they want to pronounce the names of Hungarian vines in the correct way. BIODYNAMIC ALSACE What shall we do about it? Shall we teach foreign customers proper The European Union supports the maintenance of fewer but high-quality pronunciation or start planting instead of hárslevelű and with special emphasis on sustainability. Organic, bio-dynamics, cserszegi fűszeres to protect them from a jawbreaker experience? But this sustainability – all of them are terms with pleasant resonance but how would be tactfulness carried to extremes. We may be better off studying shall we make a biodynamic a financially sound enterprise? the practices of the increasingly successful Greek, Croatian, Serbian and Successful Italian and French biodynamic winemakers now share their Macedonian wineries. Last year’s brilliant lecturer, the one and only MW experience and present their bottles (negotiations regarding names are of the Balkans, Konstantinos Lazarakis will guide participants through still in progress). Olivier Humbrecht MW, winemaker from Alsace. the hidden treasury of the region. HOW TO SELL MORE WINE PERMANENT EXCELLENCE – CHAMPAGNE “Hungarian wine sales are on the rise – yes, the sales of PET bottled The excellence of champagne houses lies in their ability to maintain wines…” the same style year by year. But is there a recipe allowing you to To increase the sales of quality wines you need proper marketing achieve that regardless of the differences in vintages? The owner of the strategies not only at the community level but also in each individual well-established champagne house, Billecart-Salmon supplying the five- . A top-notch, unified image is needed which should not be star champagne for Decanter magazine will personally offer their restricted to the label itself but should also embrace a lot more, for for tasting including the whole range from base wines to example the underlying ‘story’ of the winery. Omar Honigh, British top cuvées. marketing expert gave an awesome lecture on general brand building last year but this time he will take a step further expounding on how to RETAIL OUT, E-TAIL IN? build up your wine as a brand. The most convincing proof of him being A blockbuster workshop focusing on Internet retail (e-tail), bloggers, an authority in this field is the fact that through his contribution to the facebook and a recent initiative with the promise of new retailing running of Royal Somló vineyard, the label has already become a channels for Hungarian wines. household name in Asia… Future trade seems to take the form of e-tail or webshops. Considering the flow of information via the Internet, experts analysing current trends claim that an increasing amount of trade is conducted electronically and this is also true in the wine industry. „The visitors were very keen and very knowledgeable, and VinCE gave them a great opportunity to put the wines of Hungary into a wider context.’” Decanter International, United Kingdom

great wine families from three different parts of the country.At László Romsics’s workshop guests can taste wines of Attila and Andrea, Angelika and János Árvay, Dániel and János Konyári. „JEDIS” AT TASTING Last year’s participants already had the chance to meet the Institute of HELP! I’M A BEGINNER! Masters of Wine, the world’s biggest knowledge bank in wine. With a Don’t feel inhibited by being a start-up wine lover. VinCE will give you more efficient tasting in mind, this year they organize a smaller the chance to take part in a short, intensive course. The appetizing topics workshop for a group of 30 experts and a big one open for the public. of the syllabus include the basics of tasting, reductive and oxidative Following that event, visitors may proudly say that they have learnt to wines, champagne, barrique, tannin and acidity – just to mention a few. taste from a Master of Wine. The course is held by experienced instructors offering an enlightening A wine lover may quickly learn to decide which wines he/she likes or experience to our freshmen who will be presented to the 120 winemakers dislikes but it takes more to become able to determine what makes a as successful graduates. wine elegant, over-extracted, over-barriqued or too glossy. Now you can learn the subtle nuances from those who have the answers to COGNAC AND PARFUME every question. The secrets of cognac production from blooming vines to the wagons The master classes will be held by Lynne Sherriff MW and Sarah Jane carrying cognac barrels on bumpy roads in far-off lands are revealed Evans MW, the chairman and vice-chairman of the Institute of Masters through the perfume phials of the reputed and ancient Frapin cognac of Wine respectively. house. The person uniting flavour and fragrance is Hungary’s one and only “nose”, Zsolt Zólyomi and László Romsics, international wine HOW TO ENCHANT WINEBUYERS? academics and consultant editor of Decanter magazine. Apart from winning the lottery, the number one dream of each winery is to make it to the wine list of a reputed restaurant or to the shelves of WELSCH , TALJANSKA GRASEVINA, RIESLING ITALIEN, one of the main supermarket chains. How should you go about it? Wine RIZLING VLASSKY, NEMES RIZLING, ITALIAN RIESLING... buyers themselves talk about their selection methods, the chances of Welsch riesling is the most widely planted grape in Hungary. We don’t being selected, their guiding principles and advice. Traders of English, pay much attention to it – because we have so much of it – though the Polish, Dutch, Scandinavian and other origins are ready to be at the results of recent years prove the outstanding quality and versatility of disposal of wineries to satisfy their inquiries. this variety. Welsch riesling is rich in flavours and its structure is more than great. András Horkay (CEWI) will hold a real Central PÁLINKA, THE „SPIRIT” OF HUNGARY European masterclass with tasting Croatian, Austrian, Slovakian and The very first pálinka master class of VinCE where participants will be Hungarian wines. guided by Sándor Zwack, the owner and head of Zwack Nemespálinka. You cannot imagine a tour more savoury. Visitors will learn how many THE SECTRETS OF THE BARREL kilos of fruit are needed for one bottle, what you should consider during How much does the origin of the of the barrel matter? How does the tasting, where and how long it is left to age and an infinite number of temperature of toasting the barrel influence the taste of the wine? Have further interesting details will be revealed. you ever tasted wine concentrating purely on the effect of the barrel? Now you will have the chance! Besides getting theoretical background, CHILE’S PEARL: ERRAZURIZ you can experience in practice how important the winemaker’s choice is Chile has conquered the market with its ridiculously low-priced wines regarding the type of the barrel, the level of toasting. You can also but now feels it’s time to make a shift towards quality products. discover the type of barrel that fits your taste the best. Ágnes Herczeg Errazuriz, the family-owned icon estate has managed to do the trick at AIWS will guide you to the world and secrets of barrels. the same time putting the whole country on the world map of wine. Now the time has come to taste the successful Segna, Kai and Don , SHERRY, SHERRY Maximiliano one after the other. How did they make it? The story will Sherry, this southern Spanish miracle ripening under the gentle veil of be revealed by a representative of the Errazuriz winery (negotiations flor (a film of yeast) is the strangest drink of all even for winemakers. regarding the person are still in progress). , fino, amontillado and oloroso – you can get acquainted with the most important terms related to sherry while tasting the best FROM FATHERS TO SONS wines as participants of this master class held by sherry expert, Sarah In winemaking sons follow their fathers’ steps more often then in other Evans Jane MW. professions. The young generation is full of innovation, but also respects tradition. Who has stronger influence on the other? Who surrenders to the other? Can their wines be recognized? We will taste wines of three