Royal Tokaji is Mad for it

Royal Tokaji has opened a new winery in the village of Mad, exactly 20 years since the founding of the company.

The building was designed by leading Hungarian architect Csaba Bodonyi and can accommodate over 1,000 barrels.

To celebrate the anniversary, Ben Howkins, one of Royal Tokaji’s founding directors, invited export partners from around the world to a gala dinner in the new winery.

During the day, Hugh Johnson, wine writer and co-founder of Royal Tokaji, welcomed His Eminnence the British Ambassador to Budapest, Greg Dorey, to a picnic lunch near the Theresia Chapel in Tarcal, overlooking the historic Mézes Mály vineyard, of which the company has the major share.

Johnson commented: “This fulfils a lifelong ambition of mine. Forty years ago, when I first visited Tokaj, I could not have imagined making some of its finest wines myself. What has happened since the (1989) Revolution has been a dream coming – slowly – true.”

Royal Tokaji was the first foreign company established in the Tokaj wine region in 1990.

Patrick Schmitt, 07.10.2010