More than just wine

The 2016 BalatonBor (BalatonWine) show in Budapest went far beyond the wines and the usual tasting, it emphasized the importance of regional marketing. The food fitting the vintages were made by the staff of Costes Downtown restaurant.

In addition to the new vintage of the BalatonBor
brand, a few thoughts were also offered in the DiVino Gozsdu wine bar in the Hungarian
capital about the possibilities of harmonizing Budapest and Balaton brands in
the new country marketing, which is a high priority. The issue was addressed by
of Budapest Deputy Mayor Alexandra Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who opened the event. She
emphasized that the complex brand building by the Hungarian capital can only be
strengthened by additional brands such as the Sziget Festival or BalatonBor.

The owner of Costes Downtown, Károly Gerendai, who
presented his creations to accompany the wines, underlined that many people
have worded great ideas, but in the case of BalatonBor, the gist was embodied in
the product, itself. András Lexa and Péter Pongrácz, the Costes Downtown team, who
have made the complimentary morsels explained that "we sampled the wines
in advance, and we have found that the beetroot and goat cheese variations as
well as the marinated mackerel were a good choice for the fresh Balaton wines."

The frontwoman of the group Margaret Island, Viktória
Lábas (who herself is from Fonyód, a town on the southern shore of Lake
Balaton), presented a surprise musical performance for this occasion. She sang in
a song what the winemakers in the Balaton think about the modern continuation
of traditions: she started singing a wine and Balaton themed bouquet of folk-song,
gradually arriving to a present-day song.

The participants of the event agreed that BalatonBor
can be more than purely a selection of wines: a symbol of a region, its
community brand and its flagship, which conveys important values ​​for people
living around Lake Balaton.

BalatonBor’s premiere gave a taste of region
marketing, which is unusually new in Hungary as well as of the region's
identity and culture that provide a foundation for this marketing campaign. The
importance of the latter was highlighted by the spokesperson for the Balaton
Circle, Gábor Kardos, who pointed out that Balaton is the region that draws a
smile on the face of the country.