The Vineyard and the Wine Cellar is a miniature venture, an experiment created with personal motives on two hectares on the most beautiful parts of the St. George mountain.

There were times when other wine-districts were already acclaimed in the country but the exceptional qualities of the Highlands of Lake Balaton were not yet appreciated. We wanted to try whether it is possible to produce wines that belong in the forefront of Hungary's other wine products by being top-quality wines, and to do this without compromises. Regarding other wine cellars' success this is not a question anymore but I am convinced that these lands are qualified for even more. Our aim is simple. We want to create the best by any means – the rest is not important.

Even though many others began this route already we still run into walls from time to time, meet old and rigid habits, obstacles and taboos we need to fight against to reach our goal.

These taboos mainly exist in the quality of vine-cultivation. An inexperienced customer may not notice the high number of plantations that are not tended to around the Balaton. They might even find the curling vine-tendrils very romantic. In our view this sight speaks of neglect, and we don't think that by following these guidelines our wines will be more beautiful, or that this line of thought makes our wines more natural.

Yet another significant taboo in this region is the one of “only white wine” versus red wine. We shouldn't forget that this idea was created by force to avoid the phylloxera disease and the large scale – therefore simpler – production of wine in the last 40 years. About half of the grapeyards in this area was of blue grapes in the 19^th century. Although it is risky to oppose with the current stereotype expectations this enterprise speaks about our determination. We are experimenting steadily and we already surprised many with the first great results.

The third taboo that is associated with our work is the acclimation of an ancient Etruscan species of grapevine which has not yet been grown in Hungary. This kind of vine might already have been playing a role in the Roman era here, thus – although many would probably cast stones at me for this – the idea that this is the re-cultivation of it in Pannonia can’t be eliminated. The clone of the Sangiovese variety of grape we produce is the one that gives Toscana’s Brunello wine which is one of the world’s most recognized wine. We named our wine Tabunello. It is my favourite.

Cheers!
Török Csaba