Two strategic partnerships: Auchan and Hungarian Sommelier Championship

Following the success of last year, the Wine Store of the Year*, Auchan Hungary teams up with Winelovers Wine Awards again, to create real market opportunities for award winner wines of the contest. 
What is more, this year the Hungarian Sommelier Club also agreed on a partnership with Winelovers Wine Awards, and hold the 3rd Open Hungarian Sommelier Championship as part Winelovers Wine Awards, at the same time, at the same place. As a result, top international and Hungarian sommeliers will judge the entered wines and will meet the exhibitors at Winelovers X.
 

Why does Auchan partnership increase market opportunity for the entered wines?
*Auchan Hungary was announced Wine Store of the Year in 2025 by Trade Magazine
 
– Auchan Hungary has a wine selection of 1000 wines permanently, plus there is a seasonal selection. Auchan really does select from the medal winner wines of the contest.
– Auchan is the sponsor of Retail category for wines under 6000 HUF. It is a category lending the stage to wines that are less likely to get gold medal at a contest, even though they are more popular among the average consumers. This category offers a fair competition for lower priced wines being judged within the price range and not being compared with expensive flagship wines.
– The selected wines do not get a place only on the shelves of Auchan, but also in the campaign online and offline, including print catalogues, commercials.
 
A shared goal: quality and market development
 
This strategic partnership focuses on strengthening professional credibility, quality, and market presence. The partnership creates an opportunity for Hungarian and Central and Eastern European wineries to gain greater visibility, while consumers can make more informed choices from among the award-winning wines available on store shelves. 
"For us, the essence of this strategic partnership is that professional recognition is paired with real market opportunities. The award-winning wines of the Winelovers Wine Awards represent proven quality, and our goal is to make these wines available to the widest possible customer base in our stores. We believe there is a steadily growing demand for wines that offer good value for money and reliable quality" – emphasized Attila Nagy, Director of Operations and Sales at Auchan Hungary. 
"We are honoured that, following last year’s collaboration, Auchan will once again join the Winelovers Wine Awards as a strategic partner in 2026 and will select wines from among the competition’s winners to include in its product range. We have set even more ambitious goals for the 2026 competition: we aim to surpass last year’s 1,063 entries and further strengthen the competition’s professional standing" – commented Boglárka Ádám, CEO of Winelovers Wine Awards.
 

Another huge step: partnership with the Hungarian Sommelier Club

Winelovers Wine Awards has been aiming to be more than a wine competition since the beginning. WWA acts as a complex platform creating real market opportunities for wineries with important "events within the event" like Meet the Buyer and Winelover X.
This year a third event will be held within the framework of WWA: the 3rd Open Hungarian Sommelier Championship (OHSC) organized by the Hungarian Sommelier Club. The championship attracts the most talented and knowledgeable sommeliers nationwide, while the jury of the contest includes renowned Master Sommeliers like Matthew Citrgilia (US), Jonathan Gouveia (Denmark) and Tamás Czinki (Hungary).
 
Why does OHSC partnership increase market opportunity for the entered wines?
 
– The participating Master Sommeliers and other experts will also judge at the Winelovers Wine Awards and taste the entered wines. They will get a list of the tasted wines therefore they can identify the wines that caught their attention.
– Both the top experts, Master Sommeliers of the jury and the contestant sommeliers will participate at Winelovers X trade tasting on 9 June, where exhibiting wineries will have the opportunity to introduce themselves and their wines to the experts.
– Both the top experts, Master Sommeliers of the jury and the contestant sommeliers will receive the results announcements and all the relating articles listing outstanding achievements.
 
Strengthening our presence in the on-trade sector
 
“Our goal is to open up new markets for Hungarian wines by involving international sommeliers, wine merchants, and experts. This collaboration builds not only a competition but also a professional community where foreign judges can meet Hungarian winemakers directly and get to know the wines in their proper context. “The blind tastings provide objective feedback, helping winemakers to more accurately assess the international standing of their wines and build their market presence more strategically,” said Mihály Lippai, board member of the Hungarian Sommelier Club and president of the OHSC.
“The Winelovers Wine Awards deliberately goes beyond the scope of traditional wine competitions and is structured as a comprehensive, B2B-focused platform: our collaboration with the Open Hungarian Sommelier Championship strengthens our presence in the on-trade sector, while our partnership with Auchan Hungary supports the retail side. Our goal is clear: not only to evaluate wines, but to create real market opportunities for them. The award-winning wines therefore receive prominent professional exposure, B2B networking opportunities, and concrete sales channels – thus, the WWA has now become an integrated brand-building and business development platform,” said Boglárka Ádám, CEO of Winelovers.
 

Mihály Lippai (OHSC) and Boglárka Ádám (Winelovers Wine Awards)