Our Story
WE ARE A FAMILY WINERY. THANKS TO 40 YEARS OF PERSISTENT WORK, WE NOW CULTIVATE A WONDERFUL ESTATE OF 25 HECTARES AND MATURE OUR WINES IN A UNIQUE FIVE-BRANCH VINEYARD SYSTEM.
40 years ago, Uncle Feri dreamed of simply growing grapes, making fine wine from them, and showing it to others.
Since 2006, the next generation has been building and beautifying the heritage: together, Uncle Feri’s daughter Kata and her husband continue the winery with innovative ideas while maintaining the original goal, hoping that one day they can hand over the cellar key to another generation.
In 2020, the professional leadership was taken over by Miklós Gergely Filep, the winemaking director, who brought a high degree of efficiency and precision to winemaking while preserving the winery’s style, working in close harmony with the vineyard work of Tamás Vincze.
OUR GOALS
We love that we meet our regular customers every day on Kistályai street, and we can get to know the tourists arriving in the Szépasszonyvölgy (Szépasszony Valley, Valley of Beatiful Woman), Eger.
We love that alongside the fresh, conversational wines of everyday life, we also have a serious selection of superior and grand superior wines that everyone can find something to their liking.
40 YEARS IN THE WINE REGION
We love that in addition to our two cellars, we can also meet where it matters most: where the grapes live, grow, and mature. That’s why we have been gathering and picnicking under the Nyárfa tree for a few years now, tasting together and talking, embraced by our most significant terroir: Síkhegy.
We love that we can offer our wines in exciting ways that provide everyone with a new experience: paired with artisanal chocolates and world-renowned cheeses or as part of a unique vineyard tour.
NOW THE WINE TELLS THE STORY...
We have some pictorial memories even from these times, of how our ancestors were engaged in grape cultivation.
Toth Ferenc and his wife gave up all their other jobs to start their grape and wine production activity.
They planted vineyards in the Áfrika Vineyard and sold bulk wines primarily in the wine region.
Their first major national success was the Tóth Ferenc Merlot 1993.
Bottled wines start to appear, also outside of the wine region, primarily in restaurants.
The family acquires two old wine cellars at Kistályai út 38-40.
Despite the successes, difficult years follow, with almost daily struggles for "survival". One of the most important things regarding our winery's present is that, although he had numerous opportunities, Uncle Feri resisted various investor temptations and preserved his own and the estate's independence.
The first cellar investment is at Kistályai Street: a 50m long cellar aisle is excavated and 2 wine houses are built.
To commemorate the 450th anniversary of the siege of Eger Castle, Uncle Feri created the VÁRVÉDŐ, a classic Bordeaux blend. It has been our flagship wine ever since, made only in exceptional vintages. It's one of our prides!
Collaborating with several renowned Hungarian and Transylvanian winemakers, the search for Kadarka clones and the reintroduction of the Carpathian variety to the Eger wine region was undertaken.
If it's Kadarka, then it's Siller: another bold step, as few experts trusted Kadarka, let alone Siller, and only Tóth Ferenc believed in both. The "Papa Siller Wine" was introduced, which has since become an iconic and highly successful product of the winery.
A new generation joins the winery: Uncle Feri’s daughter, Katalin and son-in-law, Zoltán. It had to be recognized that without serious investment and development, we cannot keep up with the excellent winemaking of both the country and the wine region. Alongside the values of our aforementioned independence, we had to confront the shortcomings of the system.
The "Era of Changes":
We expanded our area from 8 ha to 25 ha, in the best vineyards of the Eger wine region (Almagyar, Síkhegy, Cigléd, Marinka).
Establishment and opening of a scenic wine cellar in Szépasszony Valley.
Expansion of the processing cellar in Kistályai street, the complete renewal of technology from our own resources and EU grants. We dug four new tunnels, each 50 meters long, into the rhyolitic tuff, creating a unique cellar system.
Katalin, while leading trade and marketing, continuously takes over the operational management of the winery, and Zoltán ensures the financial background and stability of the estate.
We expanded our area from 8 ha to 25 ha, in the best vineyards of the Eger wine region (Almagyar, Síkhegy, Cigléd, Marinka).
Establishment and opening of a scenic wine cellar in Szépasszony Valley.
Expansion of the processing cellar in Kistályai street, the complete renewal of technology from our own resources and EU grants. We dug four new tunnels, each 50 meters long, into the rhyolitic tuff, creating a unique cellar system.
Katalin, while leading trade and marketing, continuously takes over the operational management of the winery, and Zoltán ensures the financial background and stability of the estate.
On February 10, 2010, in the presence of 60 Eger winemakers invited by Gál Tibor Winery, the idea of Egri Csillag was born, which was introduced as the white counterpart of Bikavér, with the aim of becoming another flagship wine of the wine region.
Ferenc Tóth receives the Gál Tibor Memorial Award. The wines of the winery appear in numerous channels of wine trade, both within the country and abroad.
Ferenc Tóth receives the Eger Winemaker of the Year award for 2012.
Egri Bikavér Superior 2013 becomes the first Bikavér to win a gold medal at the Mundus Vini (the second largest wine competition in Europe)!
The winery becomes a member of the Pannon Wine Artisans Guild.
Ferenc Tóth, nominated by the city of Eger, is awarded the Hungarian Order of Merit "for the preservation of the winemaking traditions of Eger - especially the Kadarka variety - for decades of dedicated professional activity, and for the creation of the famous 'Várvédő Cuvée'." Another outstanding international success - our Egri Leányka Superior 2014 wine wins a gold medal with 92 points at the MUNDUS VINI international wine competition in Germany.
Ferenc Tóth receives the 2017 Eger Grape Grower of the Year award. The Winery is named Hungary's Most Beautiful Medium-sized Estate by ’Bor és Piac’.
Our Egri Leányka Superior 2016 wine wins the Hungarian Wine Grand Prix, one of the greatest accolades we have ever received from the profession. In addition, our Egri Kékfrankos Superior 2013 wine is included in the Super 12 list, which was also compiled by the Hungarian Wine Writers' Circle.
Difficult years, as for everyone. We tried to "escape" from the many challenges and complete the last steps of our development and investment period. As a result, a new (sixth) 50m-long tunnel was drilled into the mountain, and the fifth wine cellar was completed, which now houses our own bottling section and an exclusive tasting room. Technological and storage capacity developments were also made in these years, as well as investments in grape growing equipment. Replanting began in two phases, covering a total of 9 hectares in the Almagyar and Síkhegy vineyards. The renovation of the Kistályai wine shop and the tasting cellar in Szépasszony Valley was also completed. We are proud that we managed to complete our long list of developments in this difficult period, and we could start the 2023 year with joy, when...
Tóth Ferenc Winery celebrates its 40th anniversary.