Deciphering Hungarian Wine Labels

The Országos Borminősítő Intézet "OBI" or National Wine Qualification Board must approve all Hungarian wine before it may be sold. The Tokaji wine label must, therefore, contain the quality information of the state. These quality categories are (in order of least to greatest):

Asztali bor (table wine)

Tájbor (country wine)

Minöségi bor (quality wine)

Különleges Minöségi bor (Special quality wine)

Some other important Label language is:

állami ellenőrzőjegy (State Approval Ticket) [contrary to popular belief this red, white and green band on the neck of a bottle is not required. Producers must apply and receive their State Approval Tickets but as of 1999 or there about, need not affix the tags to the bottles once approval for sale is received.]

Állami Gazdasági Borkombinát (State Economic Wine Factory)

termelt és palackozott az (Produced and Bottled by)

Muzeális bor (Museum wine aka "Library" wine)

Száraz (dry): up to 4 g/l

Félszáraz (semi-dry): 4-12 g/l

Félédes (semi-sweet): 12-50 g/l

Édes (sweet): 50+ g/l

Alternate Labels and Brand Extensions for "2nd wines"

Since 1991, Tokaji makers have met with varied levels of success bringing their product to market and in their branding. In an attempt to gain a wider audience, many Tokaji producers have re-branded at least once, in some cases several times, creating an astonishing number of labels, designs, logos and name changes over the last 20 years for a surprisingly small number of actual companies. These confusing brand names, all for the same producer, makes buying Tokaji in the US especially difficult to the consumer, who is often brand-focused without reading the fine print. In many cases, companies have changed their name in order to become more marketable, and in the process, consumers are lost as to the true maker-label identity. Several companies too, allow importers to affix their own labels often with strikingly similar label art.

Some examples include:

"Olympia" is Kereskedőház (Grand Tokaj)

"Crown Estates" is Kereskedőház

"Vinarium" is usually Tokajibor-Bene, but can be Kereskedőház too.

"Chateau Messzelátó" is Tokajibor-Bene

"Chateau deGeday" (or "de Geday") is Disznókő

"Langer Reserve" is Kosher wine made by Disznókő

"Gulya" is Disznókő

"Sárga Borház" is Disznókő

"Chateau Imperial" is Hetszőlő

"Dessewffy" is Hetszőlő

"Chateau Heyne" is Dereszla

"ETK" Egységes Termék Kód (Uniform Product Code)

In use from 1991 through 1998

This classification system began as the precursor to the bar code. Many bottles imported in the 1990s (typically, bottles from the 1980s vintages) bear this code. Like the Bottling Plants Register, by reading the first 5 numbers of the code, one can decipher which company made the wine in an era that did not always list the makers name on the bottle.

It consists of 9 numbers, which are as follows:

1-5: manufacturing company ID given to the company by CSAOSZ (Csomagolási és Anyagmozgatási Országos Szövetség) [National Association of Packaging and Material Handling]

6-9: product identification code given by the company to its product, in the compilation of which the VTSZ (Vámtarifa szám) [tariff number] systematization is authoritative.

The connection between the two codes (EAN, ETK) allows the ETK code to be incorporated directly into the EAN code: we place the 3 country identification numbers in front of the ETK code (9 pieces) and form a check number at the end. This is how we get the EAN code, which allows the ETK code to be integrated directly into the international system.

Hungarovin's code (post-Monimpex) is 88127 with their Tokaji Aszú code 2377

Pajzos – Megyer code is 88301 with their Tokaji Aszú code 3402

Hungarian Wine Makers' "Bottling Plants Register"

Occasionally, you will see a Tokaji bottle that list its maker only by number, for example "Produced and bottled by #0021". These numbers are established by the Hungarian wine governing body. Here is a list of the producers and their corresponding numbers, current through 2016.