As dubious as we are about the general practice of giving out awards for wines or winemakers - especially in a country like Hungary, where too much time is spent on such PR stunts - it should be noted for the record that János Konyári last week was named "Winemaker of the Year" by the Hungarian Wine Academy. Konyári (left, with one of his bottles) hails from the Balatonboglár wine region, is the 12th winemaker to receive the award, Hungary's most prestigious.

According to a wrap-up of the news by hvg.hu, the award is only the latest that Konyári has won, and which include a gold medal at the annual Brussels wine competition. His wines first appeared in the market at the beginning of the 1990s, and he was apparently the first to introduce barrique barrel aging in Hungary, and the first to make top reds in the South Balaton region.

The Konyáryi winery, which lies on 25 hectares and produces 110,000 to 140,000 bottles of wine each year, mainly produces red wines (25% each Merlot and Kékfrankos, and half as much each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon 12%). The remaining is planted in Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

The "Winemaker of the Year" title is presented following a two-round voting process. In the first round, the Wine Academy shortens its list of nominees to five winemakers with the help of professionals from the industry. Then in the second round, it chooses a winner. The runners-up this year were Ottó Légli(Balatonboglár), György Lőrincz (Eger), Mihály Szöllősi (Ászár-Neszmély) and Péter Vida (Szekszárd).