Sopron

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Soil: brown eroded forest soil predominates, with loessy and heavily bound clay soils also present.
• Bedrock: Palaeozoic gneiss and mica schist, overlain by Miocene gravel, clay, weathered mészkő, and homokkő.
• On stony sites, slate, mészkő, calcite, and quartzite are found; minerality is a defining characteristic of the wines.
• Climate: subalpine–subatlantic influence; 1,900–2,000 sunshine hours per year, annual precipitation 550–650 mm.

• From 300 BC, Celts and later Romans cultivated vines; the Poncichter community (German-speaking winegrowing burghers) prospered through the wine trade.
• The Kőszegi szőlő jövések könyve has recorded the budbreak status on 24 April of every year since 1740; from the late 19th century, Kékfrankos has been the leading variety.

• Fruity core profile: morello cherry, sweet cherry, blackcurrant, and blackberry; Soproni wines are characterised by lively acidity and minerality.
• In wines from stony soils, minerality is paramount; in aged wines, a buttery texture and botrytis character appear in certain vintages.

• The cool climate and bedrock provide the wines' acid backbone; grapes grown on stony soils yield wines of pronounced minerality, with a buttery texture emerging in aged examples.

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