At the end of February we visited our one of the favourite wine regions of Hungary, Szekszárd. Beside our old partner wineries we were interested in getting to know new wines and new wineries from the region, and telling the truth, preparing a little bit for the March Wine-Klub event in Munich.
That time we got in touch with 2 different winery oweners called Bodri István and Sebestyén Csaba who showed us everything about their work and about their wines…
Firstly let’s have a look at the map to get an overview about the Szekszárd region….so we try to answer your first questions: where?, when? and what?... :)
Szekszárd wine region is one of the oldest and one of the most Southern (beside Villány) red wine bearing areas in Hungary.The Celts were the first ones who estabished wine-growing in this region more than 2000 years ago. (so, yes, it was really long time ago.)
The vineyards are situated in closed valleys of submediterranean micro climate and loessal soil providing a great variety and out-standing aptitude for red wine making. Can be found that the Szekszárd wine region has one of the best climatic conditions among the wine regions of Hungary.
Wine from Szekszárd shows a great variety, ranging from lighter and elegant to more heavy-bodied and robust red wines. Apart from being fruity, they are harmonious and spicy making them unique. So as the old saying reflects: „Varietas delectat” – Variety delights....
Our first way, arriving from Budapest, led us to the Sebestyén Winery, where Csaba Sebestyén, who is the owner and the winemaker at the same time, was waiting for us.
The Sebestyén Winery is a smaller family winery in Szekszárd and was established in 1998.
The owners continuously increasing the acreage of their areas and they have been growing wine since 2009 on 8,5 ha – with a strict yield limitation system – and since 2008 they purchase well sorted grape from 8-10 ha.
Until the harvest that is made by hand they thin the clusters several times, so in the end they get the best quality grape ready for harvest.
Their wine making is also done with special care. For example during the fermentation they mix the traditional methods with modern technologies.
During their aging process afterwards they use not only new oak barrels but old ones as well, that is why their wines are not so oaky or full with oak, they are more smoothy and full with fruity flavours.
I think, after this short introduction we can be interested in tasting the Sebestyén wines.
So let's have a look at which wines we tasted at Csaba.
First of all, we started our tasting with a typical Hungarian grape variety, Cserszegi fűszeres what is the result of crossing the cultivars Tramini and Irsai Olivér and we can declare this grape is exclusively grown in Hungary. Wow, this is really a nice summer wine.
Then, we continued the queue with the followings:
Icze Cuvée 2007, Kékfrankos Sel. 2006, Kékfrankos Sel. 2007, Bikavér Sel. 2006, Bikavér Res. 2007, Gradus 2006 and finally we closed our tasting with the Iván völgyi Cuvée also from 2007. This last one is the top wine of the winery but at the moment you can not find on the market (only at us! :) ) and you have to apply for advance booking to get this wine.
Summarizing our experiences, we can tell you the truth: more than suggested to taste Sebestyén wines in the near future (!!) :) as they are really beautiful and well-made wines of the region.
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