Eger

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Eger lies between the Mátra and Bükk mountains, on the meeting line of the Northern Hills (Északi-középhegység) and the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld), at an altitude of 160-180 metres above sea level.
• Northeast of the town rises Nagy-Eged-hegy, which climbs above 500 metres, stretches lengthwise in an east-west direction, and has a south-facing slope.
• The soils of the Eger vineyard sites are mostly brown forest soil formed on volcanic rhyolite tuff, out of which rise Nagy-Eged-hegy, with brown forest soil formed on marine limestone sediment, and the andesite-based Mész-hegy.
• The vines are planted on the southern and southwestern slopes of the hills, known locally as "verő", and the region's characteristic 47-year meteorological averages are an annual mean temperature of 10.65 °C and 592.6 mm of precipitation.
• Under the currently applicable legislation, the Eger wine region has 18,431 ha of Class I and 3,914 ha of Class II land suitable for vineyard planting, totalling 22,345 hectares.
• The total area of the wine region is 22,160 hectares, of which 18,302 hectares are Class I, and of the total area around 6,000 hectares are currently planted with vineyards. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The Walloon settlers probably arrived in Eger following the resettlements after the Tatar invasion of the 13th century, and they introduced the French method of vine training as well as the storage of wine in barrels.
• Producers aged their wines in cellars and cellar systems carved into the rhyolite tuff beneath the town, which provides a natural cellar climate, using ászok barrels.
• The designation of origin EGER (ERLAU), EGRI (ERLAUER) was registered on 15 September 1970 in goods class 33 WINE under the Lisbon Agreement.
• The Kadarka grape variety appeared in the region in the 15th century, brought to Eger by Serbs (rácok) fleeing their homes because of the Ottoman conquest, who also spread the methods of red winemaking.
• The name of the dark-red Eger wine style called Bikavér first appears in 1851 in a book of proverbs, according to which this is what strong red wine, such as that of Eger, is called.

• Alongside light, long-flavoured white wines, the wine region also produces heavy, full-bodied, rich white wines with a rich array of aromas and minerality, as well as higher natural acidity compared to wine regions further south.
• The red wines have relatively low tannin content, a marked acidity, long flavours, and powerful fruity and spicy aromas, and are also suitable for long ageing.

• The proximity of the Bükk mountains provides protection against winter frosts, and after warm summer and autumn days, the mountain wind brings cool nights that preserve the delicate acids and primary fruit aromas in the grapes.
• Thanks to the good water balance of the soils and the average annual precipitation of 600 mm, the vine develops free of stress, so no unripe acidity caused by water shortage develops in the wines.

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 PDO-HU-A1328
• Official trade body site — Egri Borvidék Hegyközségi Tanácsa (EBHT)