Hungary produced more grapes in 2015 than in the previous years; the reason is that the weather was especially favourable this year. People usually associate quantity with bad quality, but this year’s harvest is a great example of the opposite. All regions had particularly good grapes this year, and many experts foresee 2015 to be the year when astonishing wines were made.
In 2014, 3. 474. 332 hundredweight grapes were harvested (from an area of 57.000 hectares), and 2. 555. 000 hectolitre wine was produced. In 2015, 3. 200. 118 hundredweight grapes were harvested (from an area of 40.000 hectares), and the juice producing rate was 73% which means that 2. 336. 086 hectolitre wine will be produced. Of course these are not the final numbers; the deadline for the harvest rates is 15 December. This year’s amount is estimated to be 30% more than in 2014.
The amount of imported wines fell significantly compared to the previous years: it was 213. 648 hectolitre until this November and it was 357. 000 hectolitre in 2014.
The control fee introduced by the National Council of Wine Communities (HNT) proved to be successful. The import of FN (without a designation of origin or a geographical indication) wines has radically decreased this year, and their control was overtaken by the National Wine Expert Committee (OBB). The amount of exported wines is going to rise significantly compared to 2014, as the Hungarian wine has become widely known and popular abroad.
HNT actively took part in promoting the Hungarian wines. The council popularized the wines on the Proweinon in Dusseldorf, on the Wine Fair in London, on the National Agriculture and Food Exhibition 2015 Budapest (OMÉK), on the Enoexpo in Krakow, and on the Prowein in Shanghai. HNT promoted the award winning wines during the programs, and supported the idea of entering the wines in international competitions.
The council does not only promote the wines, but works to make the Hungarian farmers’ lives easier. A new computerised system was introduced to reduce the paperwork; members will be able to manage their business online in the future. The council also helped in shaping the new excise laws. After introducing the Electronic Public Road Trade Control System (EKÁER), HNT sent thorough teaching materials to the members to explain the new system; also, thanks to their contribution, grapes are now not listed among the risky products.
As the harvest season approached HNT worked as a negotiator between the producers and the purchasers, and managed to determine a centrum price which is favourable to both parties. HNT also reacted effectively to the Italian wine scandal; together with the Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH), the council called back the suspicious items, and contacted the Italian authorities.
Copy editor: bm