Balatonfüred-Csopak

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The appellation is formed by the first and second ridge lines along the shoreline stretching from Balatonfőkajár to Zánka on the eastern basin of the northern shore of Lake Balaton, where no viticulture takes place on the narrow coastal plain immediately adjacent to the water.
• The bedrock sequence underlying the vineyard sites consists of Central Range-type upper Permian to lower Triassic formations overlain by a Quaternary detrital cover, and the soils are characterised by clay-illuviated forest soils.
• The characteristic and distinctive pedological formation of the appellation is the red forest soil, which can be traced back to the weathering of Permian sandstone with high iron-oxide content; the vineyard sites are further characterised by elevated levels of Ca, Mg, and K.
• The climate of Balatonfüred-Csopak is shaped by cold air descending through the valleys of the Bakony Mountains and by Lake Balaton stretching along the southern side of the basin; average annual sunshine hours are 1,950–2,000, mean annual temperature is 11–12 °C, and average annual precipitation is 650–700 mm.
• The last spring frost date in the appellation falls around 5 April, which is an exceptionally early value.

• In 1018, King Saint Stephen I donated Balatonfüred-Csopak vineyards to the convent of nuns in the Veszprém Valley, marking the appellation's early history of ecclesiastical ownership.
• The Benedictine Abbey of Tihany, as the largest vineyard owner among the surrounding twenty villages, guided the medieval development of the appellation.
• The individual vineyard sites are separated by woodland strips of diverse animal fauna, which serve as natural overwintering habitats for key viticultural predators such as predatory mites, thereby suppressing vine pests.
• The Magyar settlers who arrived in the 9th–10th centuries brought with them grape varieties of Pontic origin, which, through centuries of crossing with local woodland vines, gave rise to the indigenous, autochthonous variety Juhfark of the appellation.

• Balatonfüred-Csopak wines are subtly aromatic yet rich in flavour and fragrance, which lends them elegance; a defining common thread in their nose and palate is a dominant minerality and an absence of overripe aromatic compounds.
• The palate is dominated by a ripe and complex acid structure that provides freshness and vivacity, and the characteristic almond finish of the wines lingers pleasantly long after tasting.

• Predators overwintering in the woodland strips, such as predatory mites, suppress vine pests, ensuring that early vegetative development is not sluggish and that a fuller, healthier canopy can form.
• Thanks to growing-season rainfall and the water-retention capacity of the topsoil, the vines remain adequately hydrated even on warm summer days, which is why the wines show neither overripe aromas nor unripe, raw acidity.

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

All appellations in Hungary

Sources

• National product specification (PDF) — agrarminiszterium
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-HU-A1516
• Official trade body site — Balatonfüred-Csopaki Borvidék Hegyközségi Tanácsa