Hungarian Wine and Multiple Emotions in Krakow

Hungary being a great wine-producing country, there was no way wine lovers like us were going to miss the chance to discover it 😋.

Wine is made all over the country, so we had to choose which region to explore—a decision that would also shape the geography of the rest of our journey. With the current fuel price situation, we’ve had to rethink how we travel, planning our route more carefully, limiting the number of kilometers, and inevitably leaving some beautiful places aside.

So we decided to head east again, first stopping in Eger, where the vineyards even made their way into our bedroom 😂.

It’s a very charming town, dominated by its castle, where a major battle took place in the 16th century between the Hungarian and Ottoman armies. 

Led by István Dobó (he’s the guy on the statue), the Hungarians managed to repel a much larger army; the ratio ranging from 2 to 17 to 1 depending on the source… It all depends on which side the historian is on 😉. Needless to say, this historical event has become one of the symbols of Hungarian resilience and patriotism. As we were there during the election campaign, it’s quite likely that one of the candidates referred to this heroic feat at some point. It was a very important election for the country—something you could see on the usual campaign posters, but also feel in the air. The people we spoke with, without going into details, made it clear how important it was to them to vote, with the outcome we now know today. 

But Eger was just a stop on our way to THE region we had set our sights on: the Tokaj wine region. Not a random choice at all, since Tokaj is an exceptional terroir, renowned for centuries for its Aszú. It’s a sweet wine made from grapes affected by botrytis cinerea, a fungus that develops on the berries and creates what is known as “noble rot.” This fungus allows the grapes to over-ripen, increasing their sugar content. Because the wine travels so well, it ended up on the tables of kings and queens across Europe. Louis XIV even called it “the wine of kings and the king of wines.” Tokaj wine was also the first to receive an official classification (an appellation) in 1730. Plenty of reasons to spark our curiosity.

We began our exploration with a renowned estate, the Oremus cellars, where we were welcomed by Ferenc. A local guy who spent over 20 years in England (where he sold Tokaj wine and others) before returning to his hometown. For more than three hours, we were given a full tour of the vineyard, with Ferenc telling us all about the region’s history and the uniqueness of its terroir. 

Of course, the visit included a tasting and ended with the grand finale: the estate’s treasure—the underground cellars, where the precious nectar ages in a labyrinth of galleries stretching several kilometers 😍.

The oldest bottle dates back to 1912… 

The 1975 vintage is apparently excellent… of course! While 1971, not so much 😅.

But there are both big and small producers. As soon as our visit to Oremus ended, we drove a few kilometers to visit Stéphanie, a place recommended by Gina and Joe. She’s a French woman who has lived in the region for many years and, with her ex-husband, runs a vineyard.

He works the vines, she makes the wine—like an artist painting a canvas… Their operation is much smaller than Oremus and their resources more limited, but we really enjoyed their wine too 😋. It was a very different, more intimate experience, as we spent a full day with Stéphanie helping her out (well, mostly Jérôme 😜) to install part of a fence.

So it was with a few bottles put away here and there that we set off northward, toward regions where vines don’t grow much… Might as well stock up while we had the chance 😉. We quickly crossed Slovakia without really stopping and entered Poland, where we’ve been wandering around the Kraków area for about a week.

Kraków is Poland’s second-largest city after Warsaw and a major cultural and historical center. It’s very pleasant to stroll through this beautiful city and explore its different districts, such as the Wawel Castle area.

There are also less touristy districts we were curious to see, like the communist neighborhood. Built at Stalin’s request in the middle of nowhere, it was meant to be the “ideal” district. Lots of concrete, but also plenty of green spaces and nice cafés. A place that seems pleasant to live in today, even if aesthetically speaking… well, not so much.

There’s also an old salt mine nearby, even larger than the one we visited in Romania, but it didn't impress us as much. The visit was very different: while the site in Turda, Romania, has been turned into a health and leisure center, this one is purely tourist-oriented—very touristy, more like mass tourism. Still, there are some beautiful salt sculptures, including a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper.

Kraków’s history is both rich and turbulent. When the Nazis invaded in September 1939, Jews made up a quarter of the city’s population. First expelled to nearby villages, then forced into labor, they were later confined in a ghetto, where they were either massacred or deported to the many concentration camps built nearby, including the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. It’s very moving to walk through the Podgórze district, where the ghetto once stood, even though almost nothing remains except a small section of wall…

It’s also moving to visit Heroes’ Square, where empty chairs symbolize the furniture left behind by those who disappeared.

And to stand in front of Oskar Schindler’s enamel factory—the German industrialist who saved 1,200 Jews by employing them in his factories, a story told by Steven Spielberg in his film Schindler’s List.

Fortunately, Poland’s history isn’t only tragic. It’s impossible not to mention two of the country’s most beloved figures: Pope John Paul II

and Frédéric Chopin, who was born in Poland to a French father and a Polish mother. We experienced a different kind of emotion at a small concert, where we let Chopin’s beautiful music gently carry us away…

But despite its power to transport us, music couldn’t help us avoid a small fender-bender with a local driver one quiet morning while we were filling up with water. The police showed up and demanded a fine of 1,020 zlotys (about €240) for causing an accident. Apparently, that’s normal here. But after seeing our surprise at this procedure—so different from France—and after checking our documents for quite a while, they eventually let us go with just a warning. Phew! And a few extra emotions added to our journey! 

We’ll be staying in southern Poland for a few more days, taking our time before heading up to the Baltic countries to let spring settle in properly, but also to visit Auschwitz, where, without a doubt, the emotional intensity will reach its peak 😔.

To be continued…

The map of our journey with all the photos is here.

Jérôme and Sophie