Flavescence Dorée Hits 21 of 22 Hungarian Wine Regions, Threatening 270 Million-Liter Industry

Hungary is facing a rapid spread of flavescence dorée, a serious grapevine disease, across nearly all its wine regions. The disease, transmitted by sap-sucking leafhoppers, has become a major concern for Hungarian wine producers. In late November, a grower from the village of Zalaszentgrót in the rolling hills of Zala described efforts to control the outbreak by spraying insecticides. However, he explained that these measures have limited effect because the insects move between treated and untreated vineyards or wild vines nearby, returning infected and spreading the disease further. The grower, who manages four hectares of vines, has already lost half a hectare to the disease.

Hungary is the world’s 14th largest wine producer, with an output of 270 million liters in 2024 according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). The country is known for its historic wine regions such as Tokaj, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Like many other European countries, Hungary now faces the threat of flavescence dorée, which the OIV describes as one of the most dangerous vine diseases. The disease was first officially detected in Hungary in 2013. This year it has spread to 21 out of 22 wine regions in the country, alarming growers and industry leaders.

At the annual winemakers’ conference in mid-November, Janos Frittmann, president of Hungary’s National Council of Wine Communities, warned that if the problem is not taken seriously, it could devastate grape production nationwide. He noted that many growers were previously unaware of the symptoms or underestimated the risk. Yellowing leaves are among the early signs of infection. Experts say climate change has contributed to the problem by creating conditions favorable for leafhopper populations.

In response to the crisis, the Hungarian government released about 10 million euros in emergency funding in September. Inspectors have since checked nearly 8,700 hectares of vineyards and collected thousands of samples for analysis. The Ministry of Agriculture stated that it has acted quickly to slow the spread over the past twelve years.

However, some industry professionals disagree with this assessment. Gergely Gaspar, a vineyard owner and crop protection advisor who lost all his vines near Monor outside Budapest, criticized what he sees as insufficient government action. He said that Hungary’s food safety authority NEBIH has been understaffed and underfunded. According to Gaspar, there were no random inspections in Monor’s vineyards for six years, and laboratory analysis of samples often faces long delays due to limited capacity.

The scale of damage has left some growers feeling hopeless. Still, others believe that with greater involvement from state and local authorities, progress can be made against the disease. Elisa Angelini, head of disease detection at Italy’s CREA-VE research center in Veneto, explained that flavescence dorée is usually discovered in new areas about four years after initial infection—often too late for eradication. She said Hungarian growers will likely need to adapt to living with this disease as their counterparts have done in France and Italy, where flavescence dorée has been present for decades.