Top Wine Regions of Hungary

Hungary boasts 22 wine regions, with many grape varieties not found anywhere else in the world. Some regions are small, with cellar doors by appointment only. Others are home to international wineries, spa hotels and cellar restaurants. These four are a stand-out.

Somlo, Hungary’s smallest wine region

Balaton is the catch-all for six wine regions surrounding Lake Balaton, Europe’s largest lake. Somlo is the smallest, a storybook landscape on the slopes of an extinct volcano fast gaining a reputation for elegant wines reminiscent of Mount Etna. Juhfark is its signature grape, a variety grown almost exclusively in the basalt soil, with a high minerality that cellars well over time.

Best cellar doors: Györgykovács, Fekete Bela, Speigelberg

Villany, land of the big red

Ask any Hungarian to recommend a wine region, and they’ll invariably say Villany. Blessed with a Mediterranean climate, this PDO region near the border of Croatia, in the south, is home to bold, oak-driven reds that wouldn’t look out of place in Bordeaux. It’s also a pretty spot, sprinkled with hot spring hotels, fine dining and cellar doors easily reached on foot or bicycle. Villany’s main grape is Cabernet Franc, but increasingly Kékfrankos is also being planted, a grape with rich blackberry notes and chewy flavours.

Best cellar doors: Bock, A. Gere Atilla, Koch and Sauska

Etyek-buda, the sparkling wine region that rivals Champagne

It’s dubbed the Napa of Hungary, but Etyek’s limestone terroir and cool climate more closely resemble Champagne. Set amid rolling hills, striking distance from Budapest, the tiny wine region - one of three that make up sprawling Etyek-buda - is one to watch thanks to a new appellation control giving just four terrace rows and a dozen highprofile winemakers the sole right to call their sparkling wine pezsgö - a word that ironically means both sparkling and champagne.

Best cellar doors: Nadas Winery, Etyek-kuria, Hernyak

Eger, home to the mythical Bull’s Blood

White wines were once a mainstay of Eger, but it’s the red blend Bull’s Blood, or Egri Bikavér, that is its most famous drop. Mass-produced under communism, this full-bodied blend, made using a minimum 30 per cent Kekfrankos, is once again winning awards. Eger’s best vineyards surround the eponymous Baroque town, where a cool climate and semi-volcanic soil produce wines that are full-bodied and fruity. Szépasszony Völgy, about 20 minutes from town, is the place to sample old-school wines at historic cellar doors. There are 200 in total, and close to two dozen open to the general public.

Best cellar doors: St. Andrea, Thummerer and Almagyar Érseki Szőlőbirtok