If Sárhegy is ever replanted, there will be more one grand cru area, and the wine district's reputation will extend beyond the village of Abasár. Nowadays, the Mátra comes much more to mind for hikes and beautiful walks rather than for grapes and wine. However, as far as terroir is concerned, the Mátra is a wine district with almost optimal characteristics. Its wines, both white and red, are all about beautiful acidity and rich aromatics.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
The wine district is located to the south of the Mátra Mountains. The vineyards extend from Hatvan to Domosz. The southern border of the wine district roughly coincides with the M3 motorway. The total production area of the Mátra wine district is 32,497 hectares, about 5,721 hectares is under vine.
SOIL
Its soils are diverse and include chernozem brown forest soil and erubase clay soil (black nyirok soil), luvisol forest soil and brown soils formed mostly over loess, andesite and rhyolite tuff, but also on humus-rich Pleistocene and Holocene sand. Soils are mostly poor in lime, although the active lime content can reach 60% in some places.
CLIMATE
The region has a temperate continental climate. The vineyards are protected from the north winds by the Mátra Mountain Range, creating a favourable microclimate. Spring typically arrives relatively late. Most of the precipitation is absorbed by the Mátra, so the wine district's climate is rather dry. Most of the rain falls in early summer, in May to June, while the second half of summer is less cloudy and relatively dry.
GRAPE VARIETIES AND TYPICAL WINE STYLES
Müller-Thurgau (Rizlingszilváni in Hungarian), Pinot Gris (Szürkebarát), Muscat Ottonel (Ottonel Muskotály) and Olaszrizling are the most widely planted white varieties.
The most widely planted black varieties are Kékfrankos, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zweigelt and Cabernet Franc.
Gyöngyös is simply beautiful, boasting a huge Franciscan parish church, the Orczy Castle, with the second largest natural history collection in the country and the Mátra Gate, as well as many more sights. And its wines are different in style to those from Eger. The soil is volcanic with lots of tuff. Despite the south-facing mountain slopes which absorb the sun, the area has a distinctly cooler climate. It yields some of Hungary's most aromatic wines with beautiful acidity, which are not only complex and elegant but also retain their playfulness. It has been considered a white wine region for decades, although the Mátra was once also characterised by significant plantings of Kadarka. Nowadays, black varieties are starting to reappear. Kékfrankos, Pinot Noir and slowly some Kadarka are being reintegrated into the overall Mátra picture.
However, white varieties are still the most widely planted and are characterised by good balance, lean body and rich aromatics. The fullest-bodied wines in the region are often produced from Olaszrizling and, to a lesser extent, Pinot Gris (Szürkebarát), Chardonnay or Muscat. Many producers also make lovely wines from aromatic wines like Irsai Olivér, Traminer and Hárslevelű. The best wines are produced from Kékfrankos, but some outstanding wines are also made from Pinot Noir or Cabernet Franc. Some new varieties, such as Syrah, Tempranillo and Gamay, have also found their way to the wine district, clearly in response to the challenges posed by climate change. However, for the time being, the wine district still benefits from a slightly cooler climate than the rest of Hungary, as well as its excellent soils. The Mátra has a great future ahead of it.