About
Gyorgy and Sandor met through a mutual Hungarian friend, but it was a collaboration to taste together and create a restaurant list with wines from lesser-known regions that united them – and led them to develop a longstanding relationship based on mutual respect and love of fine wine and food. Their partnership was meant to be. It was only a matter of time that the two would combine forces to create a company to bring Central European wines of exceptional quality to the UK and other world markets.
Gyorgy and Elizabeth met in November 2022 in Villány, Hungary at a Cabernet Franc conference, but when they found themselves judging together in Budapest at the Winelovers Wine Awards in July 2023, Gyorgy’s expertise and love for Central European wines combined with Elizabeth’s eagerness to learn and her passion for storytelling became the catalysts for Gyorgy to pursue the relaunch of Danube Wines.
From these connections, Danube Wines was born. A full-service wine import, retail, and marketing company, our company represents Central Europe's finest and most innovative family-owned, small-production wineries. We respect longstanding winemaking traditions, but with a contemporary vision and purpose – to bring these wines to the world stage where they belong.
Gyorgy Zsiga
Founder | Wine Buyer | Explorer
Gyorgy – our face and founder – has been a wine enthusiast from a very young age. Throughout his career in international wine and hospitality, he has raised global awareness of Hungary's wine heritage, working closely with some of the finest Hungarian and Central European producers. During Gyorgy’s tenure as co-founder at UK retailer Novel Wines, he won Decanter’s Best Specialist Central and Eastern Europe Retailer award five consecutive years. With this experience in hand, Gyorgy has brought back to life Danube Wines to focus solely on what brings him the most joy, Central Europe’s best wines.
Sandor Marton
Operations Manager | Wine Enthusiast | Entrepreneurial Spirit
Sandor is a chef extraordinaire and restaurateur, the owner of one of the UK’s best steakhouses, The Ashville Steakhouse in Bristol. His background as a chef has heavily influenced his love for wine. As a restaurant owner, he’s always looking for quality wine to pair well with the food he serves. Over the years, he has worked with many wine producers, and his interest and knowledge grew. As a wine lover and an entrepreneur with a pulse on the contemporary food and wine scene, Sandor is proud to say he’s an owner of this fast-growing, successful wine company.
Elizabeth Smith
Brand & Marketing Director | Storyteller | Adventurer
Elizabeth is a former French and Spanish professor and Napa Valley wine club manager turned award-winning wine writer and copywriter. It was her Hungarian Wines Web Wine Writing win in August 2022 that led her to Hungary for the first time, where her passion for Hungarian wines was born. Elizabeth has written extensively about and promoted Hungarian wines ever since. This fortuitous turn of events leads her back to Hungary time and time again – as well as other Central European countries like Slovakia and Serbia – to discover and share untold stories about the special people and places that make Central European wines unlike no others in the world. If you fancy reading her stories, her portfolio is available at this link.
Gyorgy and Elizabeth met in November 2022 in Villány, Hungary at a Cabernet Franc conference, but when they found themselves judging together in Budapest at the Winelovers Wine Awards in July 2023, Gyorgy’s expertise and love for Central European wines combined with Elizabeth’s eagerness to learn and her passion for storytelling became the catalysts for Gyorgy to pursue the relaunch of Danube Wines.
From these connections, Danube Wines was born. A full-service wine import, retail, and marketing company, our company represents Central Europe's finest and most innovative family-owned, small-production wineries. We respect longstanding winemaking traditions, but with a contemporary vision and purpose – to bring these wines to the world stage where they belong.
Gyorgy Zsiga
Founder | Wine Buyer | Explorer
Gyorgy – our face and founder – has been a wine enthusiast from a very young age. Throughout his career in international wine and hospitality, he has raised global awareness of Hungary's wine heritage, working closely with some of the finest Hungarian and Central European producers. During Gyorgy’s tenure as co-founder at UK retailer Novel Wines, he won Decanter’s Best Specialist Central and Eastern Europe Retailer award five consecutive years. With this experience in hand, Gyorgy has brought back to life Danube Wines to focus solely on what brings him the most joy, Central Europe’s best wines.
Sandor Marton
Operations Manager | Wine Enthusiast | Entrepreneurial Spirit
Sandor is a chef extraordinaire and restaurateur, the owner of one of the UK’s best steakhouses, The Ashville Steakhouse in Bristol. His background as a chef has heavily influenced his love for wine. As a restaurant owner, he’s always looking for quality wine to pair well with the food he serves. Over the years, he has worked with many wine producers, and his interest and knowledge grew. As a wine lover and an entrepreneur with a pulse on the contemporary food and wine scene, Sandor is proud to say he’s an owner of this fast-growing, successful wine company.
Elizabeth Smith
Brand & Marketing Director | Storyteller | Adventurer
Elizabeth is a former French and Spanish professor and Napa Valley wine club manager turned award-winning wine writer and copywriter. It was her Hungarian Wines Web Wine Writing win in August 2022 that led her to Hungary for the first time, where her passion for Hungarian wines was born. Elizabeth has written extensively about and promoted Hungarian wines ever since. This fortuitous turn of events leads her back to Hungary time and time again – as well as other Central European countries like Slovakia and Serbia – to discover and share untold stories about the special people and places that make Central European wines unlike no others in the world. If you fancy reading her stories, her portfolio is available at this link.