Pannon

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The bedrock of the Tolna and Baranya hill country consists of clayey, sandy sedimentary soils covered by loess and loam, and in many places the limestone massifs of the Villányi Mountains and the Mecsek are likewise overlain by loess and loam soils.
• The climate of the wine region is continental, significantly influenced by Mediterranean effects arriving from the south.
• The mean annual temperature is 10–12 °C, the number of sunshine hours exceeds 2,000 per year on average, and precipitation is around 600 mm, with a few exceptions.
• The wine region extends across the hill country bounded by the Danube, the Dráva, and Lake Balaton, as well as along the southern slopes of the Villányi Mountains and the Mecsek, which rise above the surrounding terrain.
• The relatively even annual distribution of rainfall, combined with the relatively good water-retention capacity of the soils, contributes to adequate water supply for the vines during the growing season.

• The Serb settlers who arrived in the eighteenth century spread the cultivation of Kadarka, from which red wine was made by fermentation on the skins — a technique that was new at the time.
• The crushed black grapes were fermented in large wooden vats — on farmsteads in Szekszárd and in press-houses built along cellar rows in Villány — and after fermentation the top of the pomace cap was sealed with clay and left to mature for a month before the wine was transferred to barrel.
• In Southern Transdanubia, lighter, red-coloured wines with a pleasant, fresh character — known as Siller or Fuchsli — were also made by shorter maceration on the skins.
• Sparkling-wine production in the Pannon wine region has a history of over 100 years, and the sparkling wines made after the establishment of the first sparkling-wine house in 1912 achieved great success and nationwide renown.

• As a result of extended ageing, the colour of white sparkling wines may range from pale yellow to golden yellow, that of rosé sparkling wines from onion-skin to raspberry pink, and that of red sparkling wines from ruby to deep red.
• The nose and palate of Pannon sparkling wines are defined by the primary, intense fruity and spicy (rosé, red) aromas and flavour compounds characteristic of the grape varieties, complemented by secondary aromas and supported by fresh acidity.
• The wines of the delimited area may be described as medium-bodied to full-bodied, characterised by higher sugar ripeness and thus medium to high alcohol, along with a fullness proportionate to their body.
• The ripe style is also expressed in the fruit character, and in the case of red wines it is likewise responsible for firm tannins, while Pannon rosé and red wines contain tannins with a velvety texture.

• Thanks to the sedimentary subsoil of the Tolna and Baranya hill country, fruitiness is the dominant note on the palate of the region's wines.
• Owing to the high number of sunshine hours, the region's wines are typically full-bodied and may achieve higher alcohol levels.

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-A1380
• Official trade body site — Tolnai Borvidék Hegyközségi Tanácsa (kezelő, on behalf of the Pannon borrégió: Pécsi, Szekszárdi, Tolnai, Villányi HKTs)