Szekszárd

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The appellation lies on the Szekszárd hills and the northeastern part of the Geresd hills, with the spurs of the 680-metre Mecsek range extending to the west, and the Sárköz plain and the Gemenc nature conservation area running along its eastern half.
• The climate is shaped primarily by Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, though the continental climate also exerts a significant effect, and the surface of the Danube reflects solar radiation while moderating the impact of extreme temperature fluctuations.
• Averaged over many years, sunshine hours number 2,050–2,100 per year, mean annual precipitation is 598 mm, and mean annual temperature is 11.3 °C; the sunshine-rich summers and autumns allow even the late-ripening Kadarka and Cabernet varieties to reach full maturity.
• The Szekszárd hills consist of irregularly oriented ridges and hill chains interspersed with winding erosion valleys; the broad-topped fault scarps rise to 100–150 metres, and the hill chains are blanketed by a cover of loess.

• In the founding charter of the Szekszárd Benedictine abbey, dated 1061, King Béla I mentioned vineyards — specifically Csintet, Bika, and Fövestelk — when defining the boundaries of the abbey's lands.
• In the early 1700s, German settlers arrived in large numbers from Hesse and the Palatinate; their work ethic and the cultural traditions they brought with them had a positive effect on the development of viticulture.
• The grape variety known as Kadarka spread during the Ottoman occupation; it was named through Serbian intermediaries and yielded wine of good quality.
• In 1908, the first film in the country depicting viticulture and the grape harvest was made here, after the wine region had recovered from the devastation of phylloxera.

• The white wines are characterised by a light body and floral or fruity aromas, with a perceptible balance of acidity, alcohol, glycerol, and residual sugar.
• The red wines are well-balanced, approachable, full-flavoured, and spicy in character, with a broad, complex aromatic profile, a full and rich palate, and elegant tannins.

• The active lime content of the loess soils — at least 5–7%, and in some places as high as 10–30% — lends the wines a richer, more complex flavour profile.

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-A1349
• Official trade body site — Szekszárdi Borvidék Hegyközségi Tanácsa