Entering Bortársaság’s flagship shop, a minute’s walk from Budapest’s Clark Ádám tér, a glance to the right reveals an imposing wall of domestic wines. It contains the largest segment of the chain’s 600 different wines currently available, with the domestic offering ranging from some bargain-basement selections at HUF 2,200 to the likes of Oremus’ Petrács Furmint Magnum for HUF 91,500.
“I think we’ve reached a manageable portfolio; maybe it’s even a bit bigger than it should be. The biggest part is whites and, of course, reds, sparkling, rosés. A little part is sweet wines, mainly Tokaj,” Csizmadia tells the Budapest Business Journal in an interview.
Naturally, the selection includes imports, dominated by French, Italian and Spanish wares, as well as a sprinkling from the likes of Germany, Chile and New Zealand.
It’s an intriguing list, but so are the changes in tastes, fashion and winemaking that have brought it to what it is today.
The 31-year-old head of wine points to the emergence of high-quality, domestic sparkling wine, pioneered by József Kreinbacher, based in Somló, western Hungary, as a “turning point” in the country’s more recent viniculture history.
“In 2014, Kreinbacher introduced their first méthode traditionnelle [the process used in Champagne] sparkling wines. This was a new era, in which enjoyment became the most important thing in wine because, before that, it was more the prestige and power [of the wine brand],” he argues.
Indeed, prior to this, the domestic sparkling wine market had been mainly dominated by sweet, low-cost, tank-fermented products used for toasting at family gatherings once or twice a year. The arrival of the new wave pezsgő has changed that profile, as illustrated by sales.
“Before 2014 at Bortársaság, sparkling sales were marginal. Today, roughly every 10th bottle we sell is bubbly,” Csizmadia says, although he senses the boom “topped out” around 2021-22. The trend towards enjoyable drinking, away from what he terms “power and prestige” wines, has also affected other categories.
“I think we are tending to move towards enjoyment, the easier drinking wines. Rather than pushing everything into a bottle, we are trying to put a very fine, detailed and elegant wine inside, and not something like a hammer,” he says. He notes a shift away from heavier reds, which have seen a 10% decline in sales over the past decade, towards whites, which have seen a 10% increase.
(However, somewhat out of kilter with this theory, Csizmadia admits that rosés, which are also typically easy-drinking wines, have also seen a 10% drop off.)
What, though, of the future? Will Hungarian palates, eager for new experiences, become a little less patriotic and turn more to foreign wines? (According to the Central Statistical Office, in 2023, the most recent available data, the country imported 7.5 million liters of wine or just 4% of total domestic consumption of 188 million liters.)
In truth, Bortársaság can claim to have “done its bit” for international vintners, with more than 100 foreign winemakers represented in its portfolio.
“Our idea has been to showcase the classic wine regions of the world and, next to those, some of our favorites. There are a few categories, such as Primitivo and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, where there was an obvious demand, and we sourced wines like those. However, while we work with a lot of foreign wineries, still, 94% of our sales by volume is Hungarian wine,” Csizmadia admits. He adds that there are no plans to introduce wines, for example, from Macedonia, Georgia or Greece.
Then there is the issue of the new generations and an increased focus on good health and rejection of alcohol consumption. While this is naturally a threat to all alcoholic beverages, the Bortársaság leadership believes wine is in a good position to manage this, being “closer to nature” than most competitors.
“If you decide to only drink occasionally, when you drink, you’d like to have a story behind it; you’d like to know the guy who made it and the place it’s from, [so] you’d most likely go towards wine,” Csizmadia reasons.
As a result, the wine purchasing team works continually with vintners to maximize the potential of their vineyards and local grape varieties, thereby personalizing their products.
“If I look at wines where we’ve been most successful, if we introduce a Kéknyelű or a Kadarka [both local grapes], even if it’s only tiny quantities, if the wine is good and the story is authentic, we can be very successful with it,” he says.
Even for many otherwise informed imbibers, the wines of Greece are largely unknown, and for good reason. As Grigoris Michailos, founding partner and development manager of Great Greek Wines, admitted in Budapest in May, “Greece has more than 300 varieties. I don’t think even we are sure about how many we have […] it is very complicated.”
Michailos was in town to present 10 of his country’s best wines at a tasting for Hungarian traders, journalists, hoteliers and restaurateurs. However, with 96% of total wine consumption comprising domestic production, introducing foreign-country wines in Hungary is an uphill battle.
Yet Michailos had a fellow crusader for Hellenic wines in his audience and one with hands-on experience. Levente Habány has been marketing and selling fine Greek wines on a part-time basis in Hungary for four years, building sales from 400-plus bottles in 2021 to some 2,200 last year.
“In Hungary, what you’ll see in the shops is usually bottom-shelf Greek wines […] People think that Greece has two products, Retsina and Mavrodaphne […], but there are so many beautiful Greek wines,” he tells the Budapest Business Journal.
Moreover, such wines are “really good value for money,” Habány argues, pointing to the Kir-Yianni Ramnista, “a sophisticated wine” from northern Greece that costs one-third of a typical French competitor of the same quality.
(Budaizöld.hu, Habány’s website, offers 34 Greek wines, with prices ranging from HUF 3,500 to HUF 17,800, the latter a temptingly dark ruby Alpha Estate “Barba Yiannis.”)
Outside his day job in banking, Habány puts in a shift marketing at fairs and hosting tastings, though, for all his enthusiasm, he admits, “The market is very patriotic, penetration is slow. This is a hobby for me, more than a business. Maybe it will always remain so […] but I don’t mind.”
Michailos, too, is under no illusions, telling the BBJ it is “very unlikely” his country’s wines will ever become mainstream in Hungary. But, as he puts it: “Selecting a bottle of Greek wine is an act that advocates vino-diversity, nurturing an exciting, pluralistic, multicultural global vineyard, rather than leaning towards worldwide homogeneity.”
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of June 16, 2025.
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