The Ministerial Commissioner responsible for reviving wine-producing hilltop municipalities and for the grape-wine sector opened the grape producing and oenological meeting of the Balaton Wine Region, and proceeded to hold a lecture on topical issues involving the sector and on the new sector strategy called the National Wine Excellence Programme.

There have been issues with the hilltop municipality act that came into force in January, she explained, because it had proven to lack sufficient founding. It would have been good to complete the restructuring of the sector before harvest time, but it is likely to only occur by the deadline determined in the legislation, November.

As part of the restructuring, 22 wine regions and wine region councils must be established, a task that has been completed with the exception of the Zala Wine Region. 105 "hilltop judges" have been appointed, whose role has since been more clearly defined, separating their public administration and advocacy responsibilities, she continued. (In future, the hilltop judges will perform the public administration responsibilities, while representation of sector interests will be the task of the Chairman of the hilltop municipality.) From the beginning of August, among others, the adjudication of grape-planting rights has been transferred to the hilltop judges from the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency.

The Ministerial Commissioner said the level of organisation of the Balaton wine regions was exemplary, furthermore that the Csopak origin protection index was exceptional and a model to be followed.
She also mentioned the fact that all of the oenological and viticultural research institutions would be integrated into a single, large agricultural research institute, which would hopefully not put a stop to the high level research currently performed at the institute in Badacsony.

According to Ms. Kiss, the reorganisation of the 11-member Wine Origin Protection Council is currently underway, and after a three-year break the twenty-member National Wine Expert Committee has already been re-established. The latter Committee has also begun a kind of marketing activity, launching the "Country Tasting". White wines will be the first to be the centre of attention at the expo, within the framework of which anyone can enter a Hungarian white wine free of charge until 9 August. The organisers pay for the samples, and following the tasting and adjudication and book will be published about these products. Red wines will be on the agenda next spring, The Ministry is also beginning talks with retailers on enabling the best 10-20 wines to appear on supermarket shelves without having to pay slotting allowance.

Eliza Kiss told Hungarian news agency MTI that so far this year the wine sector has received 6 billion forints, much more than in previous years, in funding for equipment purchasing and restructuring, and further resources will become available through funding that may be drawn down beginning in October. "As a profession, wine-making is attractive, but the sector itself, with all its additional tasks, is not; this is what we must change in the future", the Commissioner declared.

The wine sector may be currently stagnating, but the consumption of both mass-produced and prestige wines is increasing, she added. Today, Hungarians are again drinking more wine than beer, and so the sector has a future. Accordingly, it is especially important to draw young professionals back to the sector.

Source: Kormany.hu