Tibor Gál
Tibor Gál
(Image credit: Tibor Gál)

The wine world was deeply saddened to learn of the sudden and untimely death of Tibor Gál in a road accident in South Africa last week.

Undoubtedly one of Hungary’s most famous faces on the international wine scene, Gál was also a mover and shaker in his beloved homeland.

He was born in Putnok in 1958, into a family with modest plantings (half a hectare) which were stretched to yield 100 hectolitres of wine. After studying at Hungary’s Horticultural University, Gál won a scholarship to study in Germany.

In 1983, he started work at the Eger-based producer Egervin before moving onto the co-operative at Nagyréde in 1985. He moved back to Egervin to work as technical director and, after hosting Ludovico Antinori there in 1989, he was offered the chance to move to Italy and work in Bolgheri at Tenuta dell’Ornellaia.

There, he progressed from cellar hand to chief winemaker. In 1993, with 4 children to think of, he headed back to his home region of Eger to set up GIA along with his partners Marchese Incisa della Rochetta (of Sassicaia) and German businessman Burkard Bovensiepen, owner of Alpina.

Always tireless, he continued to consult for Ornellaia as well as for wineries in Friuli, and elsewhere in Hungary. In 2004 he became part owner of the Capaia winery in South Africa.

He was named ‘Winemaker of the Year’ by the Hungarian Wine Academy in 1998 and was endowed with the Knight’s Cross of the Republic of Hungary in 2001. He was particularly proud that his 1998 Ornellaia was voted wine of the year by Wine Spectator in 2001.

Those who met Gál were struck by his passion and enthusiasm, particularly for his own region and for Hungarian tradition. Reviving the fortunes of Bull’s Blood – or Egri Bikavér – was one of his missions and he was a firm believer in including local varieties like Kadarka and Kékfrankos in the blend. Pinot Noir was another great passion, which he believed had real potential in Hungary.

He was trialing imported clones and rootstocks across his estate and had just released his first individual ‘cru’ wines, which were showing great promise en route to his stated aim of challenging the Burgundians.

He will be sadly missed.

Written by Caroline Gilby MW

Caroline Gilby MW
Caroline Gilby MW
Decanter Magazine, DWWA 2019 Regional Chair for North, Central & Eastern Europe

Caroline Gilby MW is a freelance writer and consultant, specialising in Central and Eastern Europe. Among others, she currently contributes to Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, The Oxford Companion to Wine, and the World Atlas of Wine, and has previously written for Dorling Kindersley’s Wines of the World, The Wine Opus, and Tom Stevenson’s Wine Report. Prior to her career as a writer, Gilby spent seven years as a senior wine buyer at Augustus Barnet off-licences, where she became the first major buyer to import Hungarian wines to the UK. She initially studied plant biology, in which she holds a doctorate, but abandoned life behind the microscope for a career in wine soon after winning the Decanter-Macallan Malt Whisky Taster of the Year Award while still a student. Gilby passed her MW in 1992 and has been visiting and tasting the wines of Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Romania for over 20 years.