Badacsony wine region ( hu, Badacsonyi borvidék) is located in central

Transdanubia Transdanubia ( hu, Dunántúl; german: Transdanubien, hr, Prekodunavlje or ', sk, Zadunajsko :sk:Zadunajsko) is a traditional region of Hungary. It is also referred to as Hungarian Pannonia, or Pannonian Hungary. Administrative divisions Trad ...

, on the Northern shores of

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

, around mount

Badacsony Badacsony () is the name of a region on the north shore of Lake Balaton in western Hungary, a mountain top and a town in that region. The nearby basalt mountains are unique geological relics, and the habitat of many rare plants and animals. Thes ...

. Its area is approximately 1600 hectares.

History

Grapes were already cultivated in the area during the

Roman empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, emperor Probus introduced large plantations. In the Middle Ages the plantations were mainly owned by the church. The wine "badacsonyi ürmös" had a fame that equaled that of the Tokaji Aszu in the 18th and 19th centuries. The

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...

plague at the end of the 19th century caused significant damage to this wine region as well and following the plague vineyards were modernized in order to avoid erosion of the soil. At the same time new varieties were also introduced to the area.

Climate and geography

The soil is a mixture of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

, and sand on top of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. The climate is mild, tempered with relatively high air humidity. Due to the proximity of

the Southern slopes receive the sun light reflected from the lake's surface. The reflection of the sunshine makes that the

micro-climate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

is ideal for grape cultivation. The following villages belong to the wine region: Ábrahámhegy, Badacsonytomaj, Badacsonytördemic, Balatonrendes, Balatonszepezd, Gyulakeszi, Hegymagas, Káptalantóti, Kisapáti, Kővágóörs, Nemesgulács, Raposka, Révfülöp, Salföld, Szigliget, Tapolca.

Grapes and wines

Szürkebarát Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

is one of the best known varieties cultivated in the Badacsony wine region. Szürkebarát is a descendant of

Pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

, brought to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

by monks around 1300. The special soil conditions and the microclimate of the Badacsony wine region made that

differs from

. In certain years it develops

noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the we ...

Olaszrizling Welschriesling is a white wine grape variety, unrelated to the Rhine Riesling, that is grown throughout Central Europe. Origin The descendance of Welschriesling is uncertain. The German name ''Welschriesling'' literally means ' Romanic Riesling' ...

is most widespread variety cultivated in the region. Under favorable conditions the grapes are left on the vine stock late in the Fall, and the resulting wine is sold as "szemelt rizling" (literally, selected riesling). Other grapes include Tramini, Ottonel muskotály, Rajnai rizling and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

Kéknyelű Kéknyelű is a white Hungarian wine grape planted primarily in the Badacsony wine region near Lake Balaton. The grape produces full bodied, smokey wines.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 112 Abbeville Press 2003 ...

is used to be the dominant grape variety of the region, but the plantations were severely damaged by frost in the 1980s, and its significance decreased. It has seen a rise of popularity lately, and is expected to become a characteristic variety of the Badacsony region in the near future. The wines from the Badacsony region own a special character, they tend to be full bodied, and have a rich taste. Traditional, oak barrel based wine production dominates in the region. The use of reductive techniques is spreading, but the modern techniques have not yet changed the typical character of the wines from the region.

References

External links

Wine regions of Hungary

Laposa.hu
* http://www.killer-wines.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Badacsonywineregion Wine regions of Hungary