Our story

Ferenc Tóth and his wife give up all their other work and devote themselves to growing grapes and making wine.

Vine plantings in the Áfrika vineyard; wines sold in bulk, mostly within the wine region.

The first resounding national success: Tóth Ferenc Merlot 1993.

Bottled wines appear, reaching beyond the wine region — primarily in restaurants.

Two old cellars at Kistályai út 38–40 come into the family's ownership.

Alongside the successes come hard years — an almost daily struggle for “survival”. Looking at where the winery stands today, one of the most important things is that, although he had plenty of opportunities, Uncle Feri resisted the temptations of outside investors and preserved his own and the estate's independence.

The first cellar investment on Kistályai út: cutting a 50-metre cellar branch and building two wine houses.

For the 450th anniversary of the siege of Eger Castle, Uncle Feri created VÁRVÉDŐ (“Castle Defender”), a classic Bordeaux-style cuvée. It has been our flagship wine ever since — made only in outstanding vintages, and one of our proudest achievements!

Working with renowned winemakers from Hungary and Transylvania, the winery takes part in tracking down Kadarka clones and reintroducing this Carpathian Basin variety to the Eger wine region.

Where there is Kadarka, there is Siller: another bold move. Few professionals believed in Kadarka, even fewer in Siller — and in both at once, only Ferenc Tóth. Thus “Papa siller bora” (Papa's Siller) was born, to this day one of the winery's most iconic and successful wines.

A new generation joins the winery: Uncle Feri's daughter Katalin and son-in-law Zoltán. It had to be acknowledged that without serious investment and development we could not keep pace with the outstanding wineries of the country or of the region.

The “era of change”: we expanded our vineyards from 8 to 25 hectares in the finest sites of the Eger wine region (Almagyar, Síkhegy, Cigléd, Marinka). The show cellar in the Valley of the Beautiful Women was created and opened. The winemaking cellar on Kistályai út was expanded and its technology completely renewed, from our own funds and EU grants. Four new tunnels, each 50 metres long, were carved into the rhyolite tuff, creating a unique cellar system.

On 10 February 2010, at the invitation of the Gál Tibor Winery and in the presence of 60 Eger winemakers, the idea of Egri Csillag is born — introduced as the white counterpart of Bikavér, destined to become the region's other flagship wine.

Ferenc Tóth receives the Tibor Gál Memorial Award. The winery's wines appear across numerous wine trade channels, in Hungary and abroad alike.

Ferenc Tóth is named Eger Winemaker of the Year 2012.

Egri Bikavér Superior 2013 wins a gold medal at Mundus Vini, Europe's second-largest wine competition — the first Bikavér ever to do so!

The winery becomes a member of the Pannon Bormíves Céh (Pannon Wine Guild).

Ferenc Tóth is awarded the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit, nominated by the city of Eger. Another outstanding international success: our Egri Leányka Superior 2014 wins a gold medal with 92 points at the MUNDUS VINI international wine competition in Germany.

Ferenc Tóth is named Eger Grape Grower of the Year 2017. The magazine Bor és Piac names the winery Hungary's Most Beautiful Mid-Sized Estate.

Our Egri Leányka Superior 2016 wins the Hungarian Wine Grand Prize — one of the greatest recognitions we have ever received from the profession. In addition, our Egri Kékfrankos Superior 2013 makes the Super 12 list, also compiled by the Hungarian Circle of Wine Writers.

Hard years, as they were for everyone. We tried to “escape forward” from the many challenges and complete the final steps of our development and investment period. A new — the sixth — 50-metre tunnel was drilled into the hill, and with it the fifth wine house was completed, now home to our own bottling line and an exclusive tasting room. Replanting began in two phases on a total of 9 hectares in the Almagyar and Síkhegy vineyards. The wine shop on Kistályai út and the tasting cellar in the Valley of the Beautiful Women were renovated as well.

Tóth Ferenc Pincészet turns 40.