Sample sips of good libations from all of the nation’s top grape-growing regions by visiting CultiVini, a recently opened wine-tasting haven located in downtown Pest just a few steps away from Váci Street. Here amid modern interior design and high-tech facilities, wine fans find a pleasantly laid-back place for trying before buying, with a staff of professional English-speaking sommeliers happy to offer local insight and food-pairing suggestions while visitors savor every drop of Hungary’s famously diverse wine varieties. This is an excellent destination for aficionados to learn about regional wines in detail, but CultiVini also welcomes novices to embark on a relaxed journey of delicious discovery.
Walking into the comfortably sleek setting of CultiVini, we immediately notice the creatively crafted mural by globetrotting American artist Michael Martinez on the wall near the front entrance, displaying a colorful map of Hungary that highlights all of the country’s major wine regions. At CultiVini we have the opportunity to visit each of these fruitful agricultural areas with our taste buds, while lounging amid a welcoming atmosphere with walls lined by bottles of premier Hungarian wines available for sale.
Soon after arriving, visitors are provided with a special CultiVini card that can be topped up for 3,000 forints or more; after that, the intoxicatingly flavorful fun begins. Several state-of-the-art machines serve as the centerpiece of this destination for refined drinking – holding a carefully chosen assortment of uncorked bottles with varied temperature and humidity settings to preserve the precious contents, these futuristic devices let visitors try every wine on display by inserting the card and choosing which bottle to sample from; pours are offered in three amounts, ranging from a generous mouthful to a full glass, allowing every patron to try a wide variety of wines with each CultiVini visit.
These sample-pouring machines are continually equipped with a rotating selection of different types of Hungarian wines, all kept fresh for weeks thanks to the cutting-edge technology. The vast spectrum of wine regions represented includes world-renowned Tokaj (with wineries including Szepsy István, Szent Tamás, Disznókő, and Gróf Degenfeld), Villány (featuring Bock, Sauska, and Tiffán Ede & Zsolt), the terroir surrounding Lake Balaton (highlighting Figula Mihaly, Laposa, and Szeremley), and many others, providing a full range of reds, whites, rosés, and even select dessert wines – and while every bottle offered at CultiVini is of top quality, most of them are quite reasonably priced.
Along with the dedicated on-site connoisseurs providing background about each bottle with a personal touch, guests are also encouraged to learn more about each wine from a special application available through CultiVini’s tablet computers, programmed with complete English descriptions. Filling out the local knowledge, Hungary’s English-speaking 2014 sommelier champion Mátyás Szik visits CultiVini every Monday evening from 5pm to 7pm, offering in-depth detail about the nation’s greatest wines for no extra cost to visitors.
Complementing the extraordinary Hungarian wines, excellent snacks served at CultiVini include cheese platters, gourmet hams, and toasted panini sandwiches, providing plenty of tasteful treats to enjoy in the pillow-lined lounge area. Groups are welcome to reserve this space for special events, or even to book the entire location for private parties with room for up to 30 people in a standing-reception format, making this an ideal spot for holiday celebrations.
Speaking of the festive season, visitors to the Four Seasons Christmas Market will discover a booth hosted by CultiVini there, including one of the wonderful wine-dispensing machines stationed on-site. And back at the base, a variety of customizable gift packages that contain multiple bottles can be purchased at CultiVini – with an attractive wooden box included for no extra charge – while gift certificates are also available as perfect presents.
CultiVini1052 Budapest Párizsi utca 4.
