Sopron

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Soils: brown forest soils (eroded) predominate, with loessial and heavy clay soils also occurring.
• Bedrock: ancient gneiss and mica schist, overlaid by Miocene gravel, clay, weathered limestone, and sandstone.
• Stony sites feature schist, limestone, calcite, and quartzite; minerality is a defining characteristic of the wines.
• Climate: sub-alpine and sub-Atlantic influence; 1,900–2,000 sunshine hours per year, annual rainfall of 550–650 mm.

• From 300 BC, Celts and later Romans cultivated vines here; the Poncichter community (German-speaking winegrowing burghers) prospered through the wine trade.
• The Kőszeg vine-budding register has recorded the state of bud break on 24 April of every year since 1740; Kékfrankos has been the leading variety since the late nineteenth century.

• The fruit profile centres on sour cherry, sweet cherry, blackcurrant, and blackberry; lively acidity and minerality are characteristic of Soproni wines.
• In wines from stony soils, minerality is a defining trait; in aged wines, a buttery texture and botrytis character appear in certain vintages.

• The cool climate and bedrock give the wines their backbone of acidity; grapes grown on stony soils yield wines of pronounced minerality, while aged examples develop a buttery texture.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Sources

• National product specification (PDF) — agrarminiszterium
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-HU-A1504
• Official trade body site — Soproni Borvidék Hegyközségi Tanácsa