Gergely Somogyi is a ‘Tokaj allrounder’, based in the region and involved in multiple different Tokaj-related projects since around 2010. Apart from working as a contract wine steward for multiple regional wineries, he runs Tokaj Today, an independent news and information website about Tokaj, as well as organising and hosting small-group wine trips (including press and trade) to the region. He is also the Tokaj regional expert for British wine travel website Winerist.com, as well as British wine tour operator SmoothRed. He regularly acts as a regional expert, guide and translator for journalists coming to Tokaj to write wine and travel articles for international media such as Decanter, Vinum and Lonely Planet, as well as doing location scouting and guidance for foreign documentary photographers and film crews shooting in the region. Gergely holds a BA in International Relations, as well as being a qualified tour operator and a certified interpreter in Hungarian.

He has worked as a mentor, on behalf of ICOMOS Hungary, for the Tokaj World Heritage Site Management Organisation in a UNESCO periodic reporting process, and he is also former admin officer for the Confrérie de Tokaj and current admin officer of Vindependent, the Hungarian Association of Independent Winegrowers, as well as of Mádi KÖr, a local winemakers’ association.

Gargely will be delivering a talk within the IWINETC 2019 conference programme titled:

Tokaj: An Emerging Wine Travel Destination