Beautiful, fragrant, colorful – visiting this newly opened specialty shop on Budapest’s downtown Arany János Street is a genuinely sensational experience. Customers are surrounded by bundles of roses, lilies, hydrangeas, and many other flowers from Hungary and Africa, complemented by the wines of Csabi Miklós from Mór – providing everything you need to prepare for a special rendezvous. We check out Wines n’ Roses.
Csabi Miklós and his wines from Mór are fairly well known, and widely available in Budapest – in the bars of DiVino, for example. However, only a few know that Csabi has a degree in horticultural engineering, and even though he graduated as a viticulturist and became recognized as a winemaker, he has been working with flowers and flower trade for 16 years. He started small and climbed the ladder; first, he cleaned the flower market, and then became a wholesaler, then an importer, and then the overseer of a large flower-trade system.
Over time, it became clear that he should bring his dual passions of wine and flowers together under one roof, and offer them in an aesthetically pleasing manner, in a frequented place in the city center. Thus, the idea of Wines n’ Roses was born. Csabi and his fellow co-owners dreamed up the activity of Wines n’ Roses in three levels: first is the offline trade, when a customer walks into the store and buys some flowers or wine.
We can also buy their products online, through their webshop with home delivery, and they also offer a so-called “vase service” to stores and companies. This means that they deliver and replace flowers at pre-arranged intervals, and guarantee their freshness, as well. This business is led by Alex Fekete, while the flowers are prepared by Tibor Bien.
Csabi traveled around East Africa two years ago; he visited Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, and has visited almost 50 flower farms. From there, he chose three that all meet the “Fairtrade Certificate” to work with – this means that the people working there receive proper salaries, and have access to a kindergarten, school, community center, and health services. By purchasing the flowers from them, we indirectly help the welfare of these people.
The flowers are brought not only from Africa, but from the Netherlands and Hungarian nurseries (Gyuris Horticulture, Csányi Horticulture, Gombos Horticulture) as well, while the wines are from the cellar of Csabi Miklós in Mór. We can find great products on the shelves, such as the Blanc (Pinot Blanc 2014, 2,400 HUF/bottle), the Blanné (Sauvignon Blanc 2014, 2,400 HUF/bottle), or the Szenvedélyes Hétköznapok (Cuveé 2013, 3,000 HUF/bottle).
As a basic concept, the store encourages customers to experience the joy of creation: take home a bundle of flowers and arrange it however you like. For a few thousand forints, we can practically buy enough flowers to decorate our whole life. They do make bouquets on request, but rather persuade customers to just buy the “raw material” and explore their creativity – this approach makes Wines n’ Roses a rather innovative flower shop.
Naturally, the flowers are beautiful (ten roses – 3,500 HUF, ten gerberas – 2,500 HUF, three lilies – 1,500 HUF), and the shop offers all kinds of seasonal wonders, too. Our favorite is the classic rose bundle, which has a heavenly scent. Wines n’ Roses provides a fresh spot of color to the downtown area – and is a must-visit for gentlemen before an important rendezvous!
Wines n' Roses
1051 Budapest, Arany János utca 12.
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