Törley Sektkellerei Kft., Hungary
Hungarian market leader for sparkling wine and wine
In 1992, Henkell & Co. purchases Hungary’s market leader for sparkling wines, Hungarovin AG, and three years later it acquires a qualified majority in wine producer Balatonboglári Borgazdasági AG. In 1996, a holding company was created to manage both companies, and this holding has carried the name Törley Sektkellerei Kft. since 2005.
Making sparkling wine the French way
Hungary’s largest producer of sparkling wines is located in the heart of the country’s wine-growing region around Etyek. Törley, François and Hungaria are among the country’s best-known producers of sparkling wine, with approximately 820 hectares of land where excellent grapes used to make sparkling wine are grown. The country’s most traditional name in the business is Törley. Founder József Törley learned how to make champagne in Reims in France, and in 1882, he opened his own winery and hired experienced French cellarer Louis François to help him. Törley’s exquisite sparkling wines along French lines are soon tremendously popular, but his cellarer leaves the company to become a competitor and opens his own winery under the name François.
Starting over after World War II
At the turn of the 20th century, Törley boasts the most modern production facilities for sparkling wine in all of Hungary. The company has branches in Hamburg, Berlin and Copenhagen, and it exports its produce around the world. After the winery is destroyed in World War II, Törley has to start all over again with only four employees. Rival winery François also falls victim to the vicissitudes of war and closes down in 1949. However, Törley succeeds in getting back on its feet and once again becomes the leading brand of sparkling wine in the country.
Resurrecting the François brand for the jubilee
In 1982, the company decides that despite having been created as a competitor, it would honour Törley’s centenary and reestablish the François winery and its eponymous sparkling wine. Today the Törley Company is Hungarian market leader for sparkling wine with its brands Törley, BB, Walton and François as well as Hungarian market leader for still wines with its branded wines. Furthermore the company exports its brands in numerous European countries.
