Whoever said "here grows the wine of love" was very close to the truth. "The wine of lovers" can also be added to this. The average Szekszárd wine is not monumental yet is still convivial. It doesn't bowl you over, but rather pervades you to the core. It is not grandiose, just unforgettable. It is a wine to return to. Nowadays, wines are mostly red and generally based on Kékfrankos, Kadarka or the better-known French varieties. Bikavér (translates as bull's blood) is perhaps the wine that best shows Szekszárd's identity. It has everything that makes a wine personable, despite boasting pretty distinctive structure.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
The Szekszárd wine district is located between the Tolna-Baranya Hills and the Dunamenti Plain, west of Sárköz. Although the region is officially geographically only considered hilly, both Szekszárd local patriots and oenophiles call this gentle hillock in the centre of the wine district "Szekszárd Hill". The vineyards that made this area so famous run along the eastern side of the north-south line from Szekszárd to Báta. The famous Őcsényi, Decsi and Sárpilisi vineyards are also located on this eastern slope, although their eponymous villages are located 3-5 km away, in the former floodplain of the Danube. Nowadays, the total production area of the Szekszárd wine district is 6,001 hectares. The actual area under vine is 2,116 hectares.
SOIL
The thick loess cover of the Szekszárd Hills provides an excellent basis for the formation of soils favourable for the cultivation of black grapes. During the Holocene, about 10,000 years ago, loess loam, loam with high sand and rock particle content and, to a lesser extent, loess mixed with Pannonian sand former over the loess. It is beneficial from a viticultural perspective that loess always contains at least 5-7% active lime, although there are also soils with up to 10-30% lime content. This yields richer, more complex wines than sandy soils poor in lime. Luvisol brown forest soils also occur in the Geresd Hills area.
CLIMATE
The Szekszárd wine district has a temperate continental climate, with mild winters and warm winters. There is a high amount of heat and solar radiation, while there is little precipitation. Thus, in unfavourably hot years, some places may experience the adverse effects of drought. Thanks to its warm climate, vines are rarely damaged by frost. This is crucial for varieties sensitive to frost, such as Kadarka and Merlot.