The wine and the country

Hungary is one of those countries in Europe which has great traditions in producing wine. In fact the whole country is a winefield - due to the various fields and climate you can find in this small country 22 different wine regions. This variability is the main advantage of the Hungarian wines!

What is obvious for the local wine makers here, is given only for a few countries: the whole scale of classic wines are available in Hungarian cellars! So full, small, acid and natural sweet, white and sweet - all in good quality. The fact that the most common and special local type of grapes are all represented enlarges this variety. 

What types exactly? Let's start with the world famous ones. Among red wines the two Cabernet - Sauvignon and Franc, and the Merlot are the most common, but it is worth to mention Pinot Noir, too. The leader among the white wines is Chardonnay in Hungary, to be followed by Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris (Szürkebarát), yellow and Ottonel Muscats (Muskotály), and Tramini.

Wines from Central-Europe are quite popular, too. The Kékfrankos is concidered as native here. This blue grape is the most common, and they use this as basic wine for improvement. We have to menton Zwigel, Kékoporto and Kadarka, too. The white pair of Kékfrankos is the Laski Riesling (Olaszrizling).

The most exciting list is maybe that of the native types, which you cannot find out of Hungary and its surroundings. Furmint, Hárslevelű, Kéknyelvű, Juhfark, Irsai Olivér, Cserszegi Fűszeres, Királyleányka, Leányka, Pintes. There are only a few countries with so rich palette of wines. 

At the end let's have a look at the 22 wine regions. Three of them are on the Great Plain (these regions give like 45% of the entire territory!), 15 regions are in Transdanubia, 4 in Northern-Hungary. But these are just numbers, which are really interesting, but for experts of wines, the quality is always more important then quantity.