Ostoros Family Winery

In the heart of the Eger wine region, Ostoros Family Winery has spent more than 30 years building itself into one of the most recognised names in Hungarian winemaking. Founded in 1991, it now farms well over a thousand hectares, selecting grapes from thirteen mountain communities across the hills around Eger. For the past decade, it has been led by Gergő Soltész, who has continued the principled work laid down by his predecessors, while bringing ever more modern winemaking techniques and philosophies to bear. The estate’s more ambitious cuvées now carry his name.

Rather than a single superstar wine, what sets Ostoros apart is a way of working. Its entire ethos is built around the communities that sustain it, partnering with the local university, supporting municipalities, kindergartens and health institutions, and giving real opportunities to talented young people who need them. Most tellingly, it has a grassroots reputation for long, reliable relationships with its growers, many of whom it has worked alongside for decades. As well as being a matter of principle, these strong partnerships give Ostoros real control over the character of its fruit, season after season.

Its winemaking follows a farm-to-table philosophy, relying on its own raw materials and vinifying with the goal of varietal clarity and freshness. The whites and rosés – among them Irsai Olivér, Olaszrizling and Királyleányka – are made reductively for bright aromatics and early drinking, while the reds – including the region’s flagship Egri Bikavér – are aged in wood. Eger’s two signature blends, Bikavér (Bull’s Blood) and the white Egri Csillag (Star of Eger), are both recognised Hungarikums, protected expressions of Hungarian identity, and Ostoros makes both.

Beyond the cellar: Community sits at the centre of how Ostoros works. The winery partners with the local Eszterházy Károly Catholic University and the municipalities of Ostoros and Novaj, and puts real support behind local kindergartens, health institutions, schools and talented young people who need a hand. Its decades-long partnerships with growers are, in the end, part of the same core principle: to build the place up, not just take from it.