The Bocskai Radio lauds the fine example of mutual cooperation and the show of unity among the various American Hungarian organizations in drawing the attention of the House Appropriations Committee to the plight of the Hungarian minority in Romania. Thanks to the efforts by the various leaders of the American Hungarian community, Representatives Harris and Kaptur of the House Appropriations Committee expressed concern with the status of restitution of church property in Romania that had been seized from Hungarian and other minorities by the communist regime. The language of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, Fiscal Year 2016 calls on the Department of State to encourage restitution of church property by the Romanian government and to report to the Committee on the status of such restitution within 90 days of enactment.
US-based Hungarian art collector Imre Pákh has decided to have “Golgotha”, the third piece of the famous painter Miháky Munkácsy’s Christ Trilogy in his ownership, removed from the Déri Museum in Debrecen, having been unable to reach an agreement with the National Bank of Hungary on its price.
The central bank had previously offered him USD 6 million for the monumental painting, which the seller is only prepared to hand over for USD 9 million. Speaking to the Hungarian state news agency MTI on Sunday, Mr. Pákh said that negotiations on the fate of the picture have come to a halt and he will have it removed from the museum on 25 June, however, “if provided that the opinion of the National Bank or its deputy governor Ferenc Gerhardt changes until then or another state body or institutions shows interest towards the picture, I am at their disposal”, he said.
The collector purchased “Golgotha” over a decade ago to enable the iconic trilogy to remain intact. At the time, he agreed with leading Hungarian politicians to find a swift solution for the artwork to be purchased by the Hungarian state. He has now denied claims by the National Bank’s deputy head that according to estimates, he paid around USD 1 million for the picture. “In reality, I paid several times that sum”, he insisted.
The picture’s value has been estimated at around USD 10 million by both Chirstie’s and Sotheby’s, the world’s two most reputable auction houses. However, experts commissioned by the National Bank established a price interval which is binding to the central bank’s leadership and implies that the state cannot pay more than USD 6 million for the picture.
“Christ Before Pilate”, the trilogy’s other piece recently acquired by Hungary from Canada, was purchased for USD 5.7 million, which, according to Mr. Gerhardt, is the realistic price for the picture.
Similar to previous years, hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in the Pentecost Pilgrimage in Transylvania’s Csíksomlyó (Sumuleu Ciuc).
Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI
The open-air mass was led by the Archbishop of Gyulafehérvár/Alba Iulia György Jakubinyi, who called on pilgrims to remain loyal to their faith, homeland and mother tongue.
Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI
The event was also attended by the President of Hungary János Áder and First Lady Anita Herczegh.
The President – who was taking part in the pilgrimage for the third time – said that everyone should “pay heed” to the message of loyalty heard at the sermon.
Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI
The President said that “The sermon we heard was a message of loyalty. Loyalty to faith, loyalty to the homeland, the loyalty of being a part of a nation and the loyalty of keeping one’s native language”. “It would be difficult to add anything to this: I think this message is enough for us for today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow – we should spend Pentecost with these thoughts in mind and should pass them on to our relatives and friends”, he said.
A fan at the Romanian Cup final. Szekelyfold, the name on the jerseys of the hockey team in Miercurea Ciuc, refers to the Szekely Land, a Hungarian-dominated area of Romania. Credit James Montague for The New York Times
MIERCUREA CIUC, Romania — A city of 38,000 on a plateau in eastern Transylvania, Miercurea Ciuc is famous for three things: its status as one of Romania’s coldest places; its brewery, where the country’s Ciuc beer is produced; and its ice hockey team, which has won the last six Romanian league championships.
But the name on the front of the team’s blue-and-white hockey jerseys is not Miercurea Ciuc. It is Szekelyfold, the Hungarian word for the Szekely Land, a former province of the Kingdom of Hungary. Printed on the ice at the Vakar Lajos rink is the Hungarian name of the team: Hoki Sport Club Csikszereda. The fans at the team’s home games chant the Szekely Land anthem in Hungarian.
The Szekely Land, named for a warrior tribe that dates to the Middle Ages, is a Hungarian-dominated area of Romania, covering three counties in the center of the country. The roughly 1.2 million Hungarians represent Romania’s largest ethnic minority, about 6 percent of the country’s population. The fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I marooned millions of Hungarians in what is now Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Serbia. The Szekely found themselves cut off and subject to a policy of assimilation, including heavy restrictions on the use of their language, under the former communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu.
Outside the Vakar Lajos rink, where the Hungarian name of the team, Hoki Sport Club Csikszereda, is printed on the ice. CreditJames Montague for The New York Times
But for the past two decades, the region’s ethnic Hungarians have been campaigning for greater autonomy, with Hoki Sport Club Csikszereda in the vanguard. Romania may be a soccer country, but in Csikszereda, ice hockey is the only game in town.
The hockey club functions much like the storied Spanish soccer club Barcelona, which kept alive the flame of Catalan nationalism under the repressive rule of General Franco.
“I can say that this sports club, this ice hockey team, represents the Szekely,” said Papp Elod, the club’s former president, who is now a local politician. “We like to say that ice hockey represents our history as all our ancestors were warriors, and ice hockey needs warriors. There are very few Romanians who play for our club.”
Standing rinkside, Timo Lahtinen, the team’s 65-year-old Finnish coach, said, “Everyone in this town plays hockey and talks about hockey, this is the hockey center of Romania.”
Lahtinen paused, then corrected himself, “Actually, Hungary.”
The success of Csikszereda had caused a problem within Romanian ice hockey. The Romanian national team is almost entirely made up of ethnic Hungarians who play for Csikszereda.
“The whole national team is only my players, and everyone speaks Hungarian,” Lahtinen said.
This anomaly reached a critical point during a 2011 game between Romania and Hungary in Miercurea Ciuc. After the game, almost all of Romania’s players joined with their opponents to sing the Hungarian anthem.
“Some of the paparazzi caught it, and it was a big scandal,” said Attila Goga, Csikszereda’s captain, who has played for the Romanian national team for a decade but holds dual Romanian-Hungarian citizenship. “It’s a little bit strange, but I can see that, too. They don’t understand our situation here.”
There was only one anthem Goga was going to sing.
“Everyone here is Hungarian,” he said. “I feel Hungarian. From a little child I spoke Hungarian. We learn Romanian, too, but Hungarian is my mother language.”
The fall of communism gave some Hungarian minorities the chance to push for greater cultural and political freedoms after years of repression. A move by the Hungarian government in 2010 to grant joint citizenship to its former subjects across Eastern and Central Europe has emboldened old allegiances.
Laszlo Tokes, a former vice president of the European Parliament and one of Romania’s most prominent Hungarian politicians, is campaigning for full Hungarian autonomy within Romania, centered on the Szekley Land, with sports playing an important part.
“Our culture was oppressed,” Tokes said. “So it happened in sport. In Csikszereda that is why it is so important, the role of Hungarian sport life. Hockey sport because it is the people of Hungarian identity. Sport sometimes takes this function and role in a minority.”
Tokes, now a bishop, was a hero of the 1989 revolution that overthrew Ceausescu. When Romania’s secret police attempted to arrest him, his congregation resisted, sparking nationwide protest that brought down the regime.
Tokes called Romanians “very good friends,” but said they did not accept his people as Hungarian.
“Sometimes we are called Romanians speaking Hungarian,” he said. “That is not true. We are full Hungarians in the original sense of the word.”
Csikszereda’s captain, Attila Goga, who has also played for the national team, shaking hands after a loss in the Romanian Cup final. CreditJames Montague for The New York Times
He added: “Even if we lived on the moon, we would be Hungarian. Even if we are living in Transylvania, Romania, we consider ourselves Hungarians.”
Hoki Sport Club Csikszereda has attracted local businessmen and politicians promoting the Szekely Land. Although its home rink was built in the 1970s, it is well maintained, with a hotel next door to accommodate traveling teams. Inside, the walls are covered with advertisements from local businesses in Hungarian; Ciuc beer is featured prominently. A trophy cabinet heaves with the club’s many honors.
But in Bucharest, the Romanian capital, ice hockey has seen better days. The city’s main rink was partly flooded. On a recent day, a young girl practiced figure skating routines around patches of water pooled on the surface. Stray dogs stalked the perimeter. One stray managed to entangle itself in the hockey nets, until it chewed through the ropes to break free.
“Miercurea Ciuc has a local political and social interest,” said Marius Gliga, the technical director of the Romanian Ice Hockey Federation. “It is a small town. If they want to be seen by the rest of the cities, they have to show something. And they choose sport. The political men in the area use this team to promote themselves.”
Before the revolution, Bucharest was the power center of Romanian ice hockey. Romania’s golden age was in the 1970s and ’80s, when it qualified for the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. Back then, Steaua Bucharest, the team of the army, was the dominant squad.
“They used to take from the best players and allowed them to practice rather than have military service, which was good for the players,” said Gliga, who played center for Steaua his entire career. “They had two years of practice, which was very good for them at 18 to 20. That was good for the national team.”
But the abolition of national service, the supremacy of soccer in Bucharest and the influx of money into Csikszereda from businessmen and politicians eager to further the Szekely Land’s cause switched the balance of power.
Now Steaua is a shadow of its former self, and Bucharest provided little more than the office for the federation and the officials for most matches, including the Romanian Cup final in late December between Csikszereda and Corona Brasov, a team that also hails from Transylvania but whose fans chant in Romanian.
Csikszereda went ahead, 2-0, by the end of the second period, and it appeared that another piece of silverware was about to be added to its trophy cabinet.
The Szekely flag was flying when the third period began, but it did not herald the coronation the home supporters had expected. Brasov stormed back, scoring three times in five minutes. When Csikszereda had a player sent to the penalty box with two minutes left, the match was effectively over. Brasov was crowned champion, the players celebrating wildly in front of their traveling fans.
This time the Csikszereda fans chanted in Romanian, the language of the officials who had crammed into two cars and driven five hours from Bucharest to get there.
“Thieves!” they shouted at the referees.
“Peasants!” they chanted.
“We’re Hungarian and the referees are always Romanian, so we always feel that Romanian referees aren’t fair when it comes to matches,” said Szikszai Laszlo, a 22-year-old fan of Csikszereda.
As the Brasov team members passed the cup among themselves on the ice, Lahtinen stood on the sideline wondering how his team had lost the match. He said one of his players was suspended just a few minutes before the start of the match.
“We were by far the best team and then I guess we got tired as they had more players,” he said.
Csikszereda had lost the final, but the fans had still had the chance to see the club play for a seventh league championship in a row. The rink, and the team, remain a symbol of something bigger than ice hockey.
“In the period of communism, local newspapers couldn’t write Csikszereda; you had to write Miercurea Ciuc,” Laszlo said. “Back then this place was a sanctuary. It was the only place where you could speak Hungarian freely. You can still feel that today to a certain level.”
“Hungary could be the first to introduce the new European Union regulations allowing countries to ban the cultivation of GMO crops”, a Ministry of Agriculture’s official told Hungarian news agency MTI in Berlin on Friday. In his statement following the “GMO-free Europe” conference, deputy state secretary Dr. András Rácz stressed that in addition to transposing the new regulations into Hungarian law, the Farm Ministry is also working on introducing a new labelling system by the end of the year that would enable foods such as meat, fish, eggs, milk and honey to be labelled as GMO-free if certified as not containing GMOs and livestock receive only GMO-free feed.
Árpád Rácz pointed out that keeping the country GMO free is even included in Hungary’s constitution and the country has come to a broad consensus on the issue that is irrespective of political affiliations. The Government would also like to contribute to ensuring that as many EU member states as possible become GMO-free zones, and this is why Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas has launched the “Alliance for a GMO-free Europe” initiative. The Hungarian government is convinced that maintaining Hungary’s GMO-free status is the only right choice, because it is the only way to ensure that families have access to safe and sustainably produced food and to preserve natural diversity and the competitiveness of Hungarian agriculture, the deputy state secretary insisted.
The Berlin Manifesto adopted at the conference, recommends the development and swift application of similar labelling systems throughout the EU. It was developed with the involvement of over 400 participants, including governments, international organisations and the European Commission. The document also calls for the development of a European Protein Strategy to reduce high dependence on genetically manipulated soy imported into Europe in large quantities. As for the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks, the Berlin Manifesto stresses that any agreement should not endanger the results achieved so far with relation to keeping countries GMO-free or the rights of member states to decide on the issue.
via hungarytoday.hu / kormany.hu and MTI photo: csabaimerleg.hu
Washington DC – The Hungarian American Coalition is providing $10,000 to assist the civilian population in Sub-Carpathia (western Ukraine). The donation, covered by the Coalition’s Kárpátalja Flood Relief Fund, was approved by the Coalition’s Executive Committee on April 17.
Due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the local currency – the hryvnia – has collapsed, leading to severe price increases and desperate poverty. An average pension, for example, amounts to less than $1 a day. Inflation is such that most stores no longer bother to post prices. Yet the Ukrainian government has frozen salaries and pensions until the end of the year, and plans to increase the price of gas and electricity to international levels.
Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority, numbering approximately 150,000, is concentrated in the region of Sub-Carpathia (Kárpátalja), near the Hungarian border. Given the disastrous economic conditions, ethnic Hungarians and other nationalities in the region are in need of financial support and material goods if they are to have a chance at enduring the crisis in their homeland.
In neighboring Hungary, aid groups and churches have mobilized to provide funding to the communities in need. (Food assistance is not feasible, due to border controls and the insurmountable red tape involved in getting shipments over the border.)
The Coalition’s donation will be split between two organizations:
the Kárpátalja aid initiative of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, spearheaded by its President Imre Kozma and by Hungary’s First Lady Anita Herczegh
the Hungarian Scout Association of Sub-Carpathia
The Coalition encourages its members to consider helping this worthy cause. We recommend the following organizations:
Budapest, 31 March 2015 – The Hungarian Scout Association, in collaboration with the Hungarian Scout Association of Subcarpathian-Ukraine and the International Forum of Hungarian Scouting, initiates a five-month-long action in Sub-Carpathia, that seeks to stimulate the operation of small communities to help young people in difficult circumstances.
As a result of the attempts to escape military conscript, many Sub-Carpathian Scout groups, small communities and schools remain without leaders and teachers, the community life and the operation of youth organizations slowly becomes impossible, and a demographic catastrophe threatens the region due to the migration flow. We consider it important to keep the spirits of people up by means of being actually present and supporting community life, as well as to help those who remained behind to formulate a vision of the future.
For this reason, the Scout Associations initiates the realisation of a network that goes beyond mere fundraising, as it seeks to develop small communities in the local communities with the collaboration of the local population, with Hungarian financing.
Within the framework of the action programme, we send young community organizers to the region for a maximum period of 5 months, between May and September, who will assist the rural Scout groups and the small communities, organize the summer camps for the children, and participate in the school as well as the extracurricular programmes for children. The planned number of community organizers: 5 persons. We consider it important to keep the children busy with the programmes and camps organized from the donations, so that they depart from their day-to-day hopeless and troubled reality and receive special attention, care and community experience. By means of this, we could lift a great weight from the shoulders of families.
Let us come together for the young people of Sub-Carpathia as well as for the survival of Hungarian communities!
The aim of the fundraising is to finance the on-the-spot and personal expenses of the community organizers, as well as the cost of tools and materials of the communities and their programmes.
We would like to ask you to support the realisation of the programmes for Sub-Carpathian children and the survival of small communities.
You shall send you offerings via the bank account number of the Hungarian Scout Association opened especially for this purpose:
In case of domestic transfer: 10918001-00000071-76940033.
In case of international transfer: Bank name: UniCredit Bank Hungary Zrt. Head Office address: 1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 5-6. IBAN: HU08 1091 8001 0000 0071 7694 0033 SWIFT: BACXHUHB Bank code: 109
From abroad you shall send your donations by check, addressed to the Hungarian Scout Association, or via the American bank account of the Hungarian Scout Association with the motto “Kárpátalja”.
Necessary data for the sending of international donations by check: Hungarian Scouts in Exteris c/o Gabor Szorad 2850 Route 23 North Newfoundland, NJ 07435 USA
Further information on the initiative is available on the website of the Hungarian Scout Association: www.cserkesz.hu/karpatalja.
Thank you for your support!
Further information: Tőrincsi Tímea/Sándor Viktória Hungarian Scout Association Phone: 30/490-4444; 20/823-1785 kommunikacio@cserkesz.hu
This Saturday April 11, 2015 The Cleveland Hungarian Museum will hold the Grand Opening of its new location on the 1st floor of the Galleria at Erieview in Downtown Cleveland from 3-5 p.m.
The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 3:00 p.m. will be followed by a Champagne Reception and greetings by Dignitaries.
This also marks the opening of its new Exhibit – The End of the Cold War, Fall of Communism in Hungary and Eastern Europe which will be of interest to many of Greater Cleveland’s ethnic communities.
The Exhibit includes the period after World War II through the 1989 Peaceful Demonstrations to the Dissolution of the Soviet Union and incorporates the CBS Special on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as well as segments of the CNN documentary series COLD WAR.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Galleria Garage.
The Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society’s mission is to preserve Hungarian culture and the history of Hungarians in Northeast Ohio, so that present and future generations can draw upon its collection for education, inspiration and enrichment. To carry out its mission, the Society sponsors educational and research activities, and operates a museum and library as a repository and exhibition center for Hungarian historical, literary and artistic items.
The Museum is regularly open Tuesday through Friday from 11-3 and on the Saturdays when programs are scheduled.
Louis XV is said to have remarked to his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, as he handed her a glass of Tokaji aszu, “This is the king of wines and the wine of kings.” He was not, however, the first to say these original-sounding words. They appear alongside the name of the wine on a court menu dating back to the time of Louis XIV.
To this day, the Latin version of this saying – Vinum regum, rex vinorum — is allowed to appear on Tokay wines of particular quality.
Great labyrinths of cellars extend beneath the villages of the region. The layer of earth above them ranges from 16 to 165 feet (5 to 50 meters), according to the variations in ground level at the surface. In places, several cellars lie one above the other, connected by vertical shafts. Most were dug between the 15th and 19th centuries. In the early days, they served as places of refuge in war.
The cellars have an ideal level of humidity and a constant temperature of 50-54 °F (10-12 °C). The walls are covered in a thick layer of mold called Cladosporium cellare. It feeds on the alcohol evaporating from the casks. This creates the microclimate essential for the production of the unique aroma and flavor of Tokay wines. The wines begin their maturation in fairly small oak casks (either Gönci, with a capacity of 36 gallons or 136.6 liters, or Szerednye, 58 gallons or 200 liters). The wood is penetrated by the air carrying the beneficial mold.
Tokaji aszú
All the wines of Tokaj-Hegyalja are of excellent quality, but Tokaji aszú is the undisputed king among these aristocrats. According to tradition, the world has Zsuzsanna Lórántffy, wife of Prince György I Rákóczi, to thank for this wine. We are told that once, in the middle of the 17th century, the advance of the Turkish army caused her to postpone the grape harvest on the prince’s estates near Tokaj. By the time the grapes were eventually pressed, they were shriveled and moldy. To everyone’s astonishment, they yielded a quite exceptional wine. Its fame soon spread far beyond the country’s borders. The cause of the shriveling and rotting was the mold we call “noble rot,” Botrytis cinerea, whose spores penetrate the grapeskins. The mold encourages the evaporation of moisture, reducing the acidity of the fruit, and increasing the sugar content, possibly to as much as 70%.
The grape harvest starts at the end of October, continuing through the whole of November. Only the shriveled grapes are selected from the bunches harvested. These desiccated grapes are mashed, either by being trodden to a pulp in a vat in the traditional manner, or by being crushed in a special mill.
March 22, 2015, became a memorable day for the Cleveland Hungarian community. Father Csaba Böjte, Franciscan priest well known for his charitable work, accompanied by two representatives from the St. Francis Foundation, Dr. Agnes Madarassy and John Csák visited Cleveland, Ohio during their North American tour. They chose St. Emeric Church as the center for the day’s activities, which began with the celebration of Mass at 11 AM. The church was filled to capacity with parishioners, visitors, and guests from the Cleveland area and also from as far as Columbus, Ohio. The Hungarian Scouts also participated, with some members of the Scout Folk Ensemble dressed in the costume of the Szekely region of Transylvania, where Father hails from. Father Csaba’s inspirational homily presented in his unique style focused on the Franciscan’s motto, also known as the prayer of St. Francis, — “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…” , emphasizing the power of love as Christ taught us when facing challenges and by working together in harmony and peace for the good of others.
Following Mass a reception lunch in Hungarian style, of goulash and „lángos” prepared lovingly by the ladies of St. Emeric Parish welcomed the 300 guests in the hall downstairs. As a token symbol of the love and respect of the parishioners, a group of children presented Father with a bouquet of flowers, which Father then asked one of the girls to place on the Blessed Virgin’s altar in the church.
During the course of the lunch, John Csak, a trustee of the St. Francis Foundation, briefed us on the far reaching charitable work of the Foundation in maintaining the 82 orphanages and children’s homes founded by Father Bojte in the Transylvanian region of Romania and in Hungary over the past 20 years. These homes help the most vulnerable, the poor, the neglected, and the destitute children in society by providing not only basic necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, education, but above all human dignity and hope for their future, and he said that the success rate is outstanding. Father Bojte then proceeded to vividly illustrate with real life stories not only the everyday challenges in the lives of these children, but also the heart-warming successes in the lives of these individuals as having become contributing members of society. It is interesting to note that Fr. Bojte’s visit for us coincides with the season of Lent when all Christians are called to deepen their relationship with God through prayer, penance, and practice of charity. What a terrific teaching example we have of this in the life and work of Fr. Bojte and the St. Francis Foundation.
This year’s 5th Sunday of Lent and the first Sunday of Spring has become a day we will remember for a long time to come. We thank Fr. Csaba Bojte for visiting us in Cleveland, for celebrating Mass with us and for inspiring us and spiritually enriching our lives. The parishioners of St. Emeric Parish consider it an honor and privilege that they were chosen to host this event. The parishioners, mostly the ladies of the parish, together with the Scouts worked hard, but lovingly to bring about this lunch and for that we thank them. And above all, we thank Our Heavenly Father for his loving providence in allowing us to be part of this spiritually enriching experience.
We are pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the Hungarian Heritage Museum’s new home On Saturday, April 11th at 3 o’clock, on the 1st Floor of the Galleria at Erieview, Downtown, Cleveland, Ohio!
This event is open to the public, and after the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, our guests will have the opportunity to view our Museum exhibits and enjoy a champagne reception.
We have a special exhibit opening at this time called: The End of the Cold War (Fall of Communism in Hungary and Eastern Europe).
This event is free and open to the public. As many of you may know, the Hungarian Museum has been a part of the Downtown Cleveland scene for over 13 years. We are looking forward to many more years in our new home, where we are open on Tuesdays through Fridays, 11-3, and on Saturdays when we have programming scheduled.
Szekler Hungarians’ annual Freedom Day march banned.
The European Free Alliance is stunned to receive the news that the annual Szekler Freedom Day demonstration and march which would be held next month in Marosvásárhely/Targu Mures was banned from the Romanian authorities on the grounds of creating “ethnic unrest” within the country.
This year, the Szekler National Council that organises the event, was planning to protest against the planned administrative reform in Romania, which would incorporate the Szekerland into a region with less of 30% percent Hungarian population. Obviously, this annoyed the authorities and they decided not to allow it.
It has to be mentioned that each year the Romanian state tried to put obstacles to the organisation of the event. Last year for instance, a road block during the march was refused but the 30.000 participants had to move onto the street as the sidewalks were too narrow to accommodate them. This caused the intervention of the security forces against the peaceful demonstrators.
EFA considers this decision as a clear breech of one of the most fundamental human rights, the freedom of assembly. Furthermore, firmly believes that it is politically and ethnically motivated and calls upon the Romanian authorities to revoke it immediately. Only a few months after the election of a minority candidate as president of the country, Romania sends a completely wrong message on how it understands the demands of its Hungarian minority for democracy and autonomy.
In this respect, EFA also sent an official protest letter to both the mayor of Marosvásárhely/Targu Mures and the Romanian President, warning them about the implications of such decisions which undermine peaceful coexistence and bring in mind the darkest periods of the country’s recent history.
Hungary’s famous Tokaj wine region centred upon the town in the Northeast of the country has been named among the world’s eight most promising lesser-known wine regions in a Bloomberg article.
“As Eastern Europe’s class act for wine, the historic Tokaj region is getting a €330 million (&374 million) investment over the next five years to upgrade its vineyards and bolster its reputation. (Under communism, quantity was prized over quality.) Its 5,500 hectares of vineyards, at an 800-foot elevation on volcanic slopes, are devoted primarily to three native white grapes. They include hard-to-pronounce Hárslevelü and flagship furmint, which is the key varietal in the luscious sweet wines associated with the region. The latest craze, though, is a newly available dry version of furmint, Hungary’s alternative to chardonnay and riesling”, author Elin McCoy writes in praise of Hungary’s best-known and best-loved wines.
The article especially recommends the 2011 István Szepsy Betsek Furmint ($75), described as ”smoky, citrusy, rich, and complex”, reminiscent of a great Alsace riesling.
Tokaj is listed alongside the US state of Virginia, Yarra Valley north of Melbourne in Australia, the Republic of Georgia, Southern England, Lodi in northern California, Mt. Etna in Sicily, and Maule Valley in central Chile.
