Balaton

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The proximity of Lake Balaton modifies the area's continental climate: the large body of water keeps summers cooler, the air more humid, and winters milder than at comparable European latitudes.
• The Bakony Mountains shelter the basin from cold northerly and westerly winds, with the result that monthly mean temperatures in the warmest months have not exceeded 25 °C over a 53-year average.
• The mean annual temperature is above average at 9–11 °C, annual sunshine hours amount to around 1,900, and mean annual precipitation is 650 mm.
• The vineyards are generally situated on south-, south-east-, and south-west-facing hillside and mountain-slope vineyard sites around Lake Balaton.
• The characteristic soil of the delimited production area is the Rhamann-type clay-illuviated brown forest soil, which retains winter and spring rainfall well, ensuring a consistent water supply throughout the growing season.

• Following the Ottoman devastation, the non-Hungarian-speaking population that settled around Lake Balaton continued to cultivate the local, autochthonous varieties, including Kék bakator, Juhfark, Kéknyelű, and Pintes.
• Olaszrizling and Szürkebarát, which appeared after the phylloxera crisis, have since become inseparable from the region's identity and have contributed greatly to the reputation of Balatoni wines.

• Balatoni wines are characterised by freshness, a ripe acid structure, and body — qualities that have underpinned their reputation for millennia.
• Balatoni wines are full-bodied and richly textured, with generous aromatic depth, since even medium- and late-ripening varieties can be harvested at high sugar levels.
• Balatoni wines are fruit-driven, with rounded and ripe acidity, while the tannins of the rosé and red wines are silky and elegant.

• Cool breezes rolling down from the Bakony Mountains in the evenings refresh the humid summer air and slow the spread of fungal disease, allowing the grapes to be harvested in good health.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Hungary

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• National product specification (PDF) — agrarminiszterium
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-HU-A1507
• Official trade body site — Hegyközségek Nemzeti Tanácsa — Balaton borrégió