Reliability, Experience, Expertise, Elegance, Quality

Törley Sparkling Wine Cellar can look back on a history of almost one and a half centuries. The company is not only the owner of a well-known historical Hungarian brand, but also enjoys a wide international reputation. Today, the company produces its quality wines and sparkling wines in its original factory as well as in a modern winery. Most of the grapes processed come from Törley’s own vineyards.

Törley Pezsgőpincészet Kft. (Törley Sparkling Wine Cellar Ltd.) celebrates its 140th anniversary next year. Managing Director György Kovács explains to Diplomacy&Trade in what way, in what form the spirit of the founders is reflected in the company’s activities today. “Our company is constantly striving to advance the approach of the founder of the company, József Törley, who was a true innovator, one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his time. At the end of the 1800s, he brought to Hungary innovations that were previously unknown here. He used elevators, hoists to move goods between levels, applied the science of disgorging and transported his products by truck, to name just a few of the developments he brought in and applied in this country,” he highlights.

Traditional and new methods
The founder, József Törley, once said that "with great diligence and perseverance, I managed to produce much better champagne wines than hitherto known." Regarding major developments in the wine and sparkling wine selection that are offered to Törley customers today, the Managing Director underlines that they try to design their sparkling wine offer in such a way that it meets the needs of their customers: “everyone will find the type of sparkling wine they like best. We make our sparkling wines with four different methods, we also use the traditional method (Methode Traditionnelle), the Methode Transvasée, the Methode Charmat as well as the Asti technology. Our products include Brut Nature sparkling wines, Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Sec, Semi Sec and Doux sparkling wines,” he points out.

Törley values
Törley, as a brand, is widely known in Hungary and around the world. As for the values the Törley brand embodies and what values customers associate with it, György Kovács explains that according to surveys, the popularity of Törley sparkling wines in Hungary today is close to 100%. “Our consumers associate reliability, experience, expertise, elegance and quality with the Törley brand as one of the most traditional Hungarian brands. This is a great recognition for us, because our goal is really to make our company and the Törley brand valued by our consumers. We work every day to keep these values and add more.”

Export markets
Törley Sparkling Wine Cellar delivers its products to more than 30 countries. The largest export countries are Germany, Sweden, Romania and Estonia. “It is interesting that in Estonia, a country with a population of about 1.3 million people, the consumption of Törley sparkling wine per capita is higher than in Hungary while in Vietnam, Törley Charmant Rouge, a sweet red sparkling wine, is the most popular among our products,” he points out.
In addition to Törley’s own products, the company also sells products of different brands in different export markets. In Sweden, they sell sparkling wines and wines under the name Chapel Hill, and in England, they sell large quantities of products under a wine club’s own label.

Impact of the pandemic
The situation caused by the new coronavirus infection had a different effect on wine and sparkling wine. As the Managing Director explains, in March last year, when the closures started in Hungary, everyone became insecure, not knowing what awaited them in the coming weeks and months. “Of course, this was also felt in our company. In March and April, our most important goal was to protect the workplace of our colleagues, this was helped by the export activity of our company, thanks to which we did not have to stop production. Fortunately, as summer approached, the purchase of sparkling wine in Hungary also revived.”

By European standards
Today, the company produces its quality wines and sparkling wines in a winery that is modern even by European standards, buying grapes from Hungarian producers. As regards their relationship with their suppliers and their expectations towards winegrowers, György Kovács highlights that all their products are made exclusively from Hungarian grapes, they are really proud of that. “We can cover a significant part of our needs from our own production areas, but, of course, we also buy grapes in very large quantities. We consider it very important to maintain an excellent relationship with the vine growers. Each producer must meet very strict quality requirements, but this is not a problem, as we have been working with most of our partners for several years or decades.”