page_title: Hungarian wine
section_title: Wine regions and styles
hierarchical_section_title: Hungarian wine / Wine regions and styles
caption_attribution_description: English: The first village level dry Furmint in the Tokaji wine region
context_page_description: Hungarian wine has a history dating back to the Kingdom of Hungary. Outside Hungary, the best-known wines are the white dessert wine Tokaji aszú and the red wine Bull's Blood of Eger.
context_section_description: The official list of wine regions is defined by a ministerial decree. The current list includes 22 wine regions, which are usually grouped into five to seven larger regions.
  Balaton, with sub-regions
  Badacsony: volcanic soils, full-bodied whites with considerable acidity. One of the few sources of Kéknyelű grapes.
  Balatonboglár: full-bodied whites and reds with moderate acidity.
  Balaton-felvidék: volcanic soils, full-bodied whites with considerable acidity.
  Balatonfüred-Csopak: terra rossa soils, full-bodied whites with considerable acidity.
  Nagy-Somló (or Somló): volcanic soil, full-bodied whites with high acidity. Main varieties are: Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű and Furmint.
  Zala: mainly white wines.
  The main variety of the region is Olaszrizling.
  Duna, with sub-regions
  Csongrád,
  Hajós-Baja,
  Kunság.
  Mainly fresh and light wines from many varieties.
  Eger, with sub-regions
  Bükk: mainly white wines.
  Eger: fresh whites from Leányka and Királyleányka, full-bodied whites mainly from Olaszrizling or Chardonnay. Home of the Egri Bikavér (bulls blood of Eger), an elegant red blend, mainly based on Kékfrankos. Good Pinot noirs.
  Mátra: elegant and full-bodied whites, grown on volcanic soil. Main varieties are Müller-Thurgau, Olaszrizling and Chardonnay.
  Észak-Dunántúl, with sub-regions
  Neszmély: fresh and aromatic whites.
  Etyek-Buda: fresh white wines, with considerable acidity.
  Mór: volcanic soil, full-bodied whites. Main variety: Ezerjó.
  Pannonhalma: full-bodied whites.
  Sopron: elegant reds (mainly Kékfrankos).
  Pannon, with sub-regions
  Pécs: mainly whites. Traditional variety: Cirfandli
  Szekszárd: full-bodied reds, with a bit of spice. Famous wine: Szekszárdi Bikavér. Main varieties: Kadarka, Kékfrankos, Cabernet franc, Merlot
  Tolna
  Villány: robust, full-bodied, spicy reds. Main varieties: Blauer Portugieser, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and occasionally Pinot Noir.
  Sopron, with sub-regions
  Sopron
  Tokaj
  Hungary's most famous wine region lies in the foothills of the Zemplén Mountains of the far north of the country  - in fact the traditional area crosses into the southeast corner of modern Slovakia. The area is notable for its long warm autumns and mists that come in from the River Bodrog, creating perfect conditions for noble rot. This can contribute towards creating the botrytised ('aszú') grapes for which the region is famous. These are individually picked as late as mid-November into buckets ('puttonyos') and crushed to a paste. Varying amounts of this aszú paste are then added to non-aszú must or wine made from a mix of Furmint, Hárslevelű, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Kövérszőlő or Zéta grapes, and left to ferment. The resulting wine is then aged in relatively small barrels in a labyrinth of cellars in the soft volcanic tuff, on whose walls thick blankets of fungus regulate the humidity.
  Given that aszú conditions only happen in perhaps three vintages per decade, much dry Furmint is also produced. Other grapes grown in the area include Hárslevelű, Muscat Blanc, Kövérszőlő and Zéta.
  For centuries the main product of the area was the sweet wine, mainly the Botrytised selections. The dry Furmint got into the attention of wine connoisseurs and experts of the world when the Úrágya 2000 single vineyard selection had been introduced by István Szepsy. The wine expressed great minerality, complexity and structure, which has been experienced only in the finest white wines of historic regions like Burgundy or the Mosel before. The aging potential was also promising. In 2003 more producers of Mád village produced single vineyard selected dry Furmint wines with great success. Mád village with its almost 1200 ha had the opportunity to produce high quality dry Furmint wine in significant quantity as a commune level wine, which can express the unique volcanic terroir of the region, this wine is named after its appellation Mad and produced by István Szepsy Jr. in the Szent Tamás Winery.
caption: The first village level dry Furmint in the Tokaji wine region
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