Tasting Tokaji in Budapest: Three Bars, Zero Expertise
I like sweet wines — port, Moscato, and now Tokaji. Trying it in Budapest was on my list from the start.
A confession before we begin: we are not wine experts. When a waiter asked which wine we’d like, our full answer was “Tokaji, and sweet.” Sorry, guys. It worked anyway.
First, what Tokaji actually is
It comes from the hills of the Tokaji region in north-east Hungary and has a serious reputation: Louis XIV supposedly called it “the wine of kings, the king of wines”, and Russian tsars kept soldiers in the Tokaj region to guard their supply.
The famous sweetness comes from noble rot — a fungus that shrivels the grapes on the vine and concentrates the sugar. The classic Aszú (made from those hand-picked, fungus-affected grapes) is graded in puttonyos — the higher the number, the richer and sweeter the wine. Its slightly lighter sibling is Szamorodni (a mix of grapes harvested together, cheaper to produce, still sweet but not as rich), which is what we ended up drinking most.
Where we drank it
VinoWonka
A small, cosy place: good coffee, handmade chocolate, one local beer on tap, and a great selection of wines from smaller wineries. We arrived half an hour before closing, and the bartender was happy to stay longer for us — the kind of welcome you remember. He gave us samples of two wines to try before choosing. He also suggested we smell the cork. We all declined. Sorry. We’re working on it. The price of the wine was around 7,000 HUF.
Cintányéros
Another cosy spot — coffee, croissants, snacks, one beer on draft, a nice terrace outside, and a very friendly waiter. This is where we had the best glass of the trip: a sweet Tokaji Szamorodni 2022 from Karádi-Berger, a small family-owned winery, priced around 15,000 HUF. Honey and apricot are the main flavours — a dense, thick, very sweet wine. Exactly what I came to Hungary hoping to find.
Time Out Market (or, as we call it, the Piano Bar)
We found this one by accident. I’d forgotten my flip-flops for the bath, so we were searching for a supermarket on a Monday evening — and walked into the Time Out Market instead. Beautiful decoration, old statues on the walls, lovely lights, and an amazing pianist playing a grand piano. We went to the shop next door, bought the flip-flops, and came straight back to the piano. There’s live music every day — piano on Mondays, jazz and DJ the other days. Good beer for Ian, Tokaji for me, and a very happy evening for all four of us.
If you want to try Tokaji
You don’t need to know anything about wine. “Tokaji, sweet” got us excellent glasses every time. Look for bars that pour from smaller wineries. Start with a sweet Szamorodni. If you want to go further, ask for an Aszú — the higher the puttonyos number, the richer it gets. Classic pairings are foie gras or blue cheese. It also works perfectly with a piano.
Addresses
VinoWonka — Corvin sétány 2, 1082 · open 4pm–10pm daily
Cintányéros — Bókay János utca 52, 1083 · Mon–Sat 10am–midnight, closed Sundays
Time Out Market Budapest — Blaha Lujza tér 1, 1085 · timeout.com/time-out-market-budapest · 11:30am–11:30pm daily
