There are few capitals in the world where grapes and wine have played an important role for centuries, and indeed continue to do so, as today's Budapest. Places like Gellért Hill and the Tabán that are today integral parts of the city were vineyards not so long ago. The oft sung about "Sashegyi Veres", a red wine made from the Kadarka and Vadfekete varieties, is now just a literary memory; however, the remarkable features of the wine region, which has now moved a little further away, have remained. The area around Etyek, Pázmánd and Velence yields a wide range of wines, which give both an individual and nuanced picture of the terroir around the capital.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
Geographically, the Etyek wine district stretches from the southern part of the Gerecse Hills to the Velence and Buda Hills. The wine district is basically divided into three major subdistricts: the Etyek area, which stretches from Csabdi through Bicske, Etyek and Vál to Martonvásár; the area from Pázmánd to Pákozd on the southern slopes of the Velence Hills; and the area between Tök and Budakeszi on the southwestern side of the Buda Hills. The current vineyard area of 1,652 hectares is only about 30% of the wine district's possible total production area.
SOIL
The soil-forming rocks in the Etyek Hills are mainly loess and loess-like Quaternary sediments as well as sand, limestone, sandstone and, less commonly, dolomite. The wine district's characteristic loam soil has developed on these young sandy slopes. Its high active lime content gives rise to the wine district's characteristic so-called "calcareous wines". Loess mixed with granite debris is common in the Velence Hills. The Buda zone is characterised by sand, loess-based chernozem over sandstone, chernozem over limestone and dolomite and alkaline brown forest soil, sometimes with significant active lime content.
CLIMATE
The average annual temperature of 9.5-10.5°C is slightly below the national average. Whereas its annual precipitation of 400-800 mm is close to the national average. The wine district is blessed with frequent breezes, thus providing optimal growing conditions, with little risk of fungal damage and rare significant frost damage.
GRAPE VARIETIES AND TYPICAL WINE STYLES
The Etyek-Buda wine district is primarily a white wine producing region. The largest area is planted to Chardonnay and Irsai Olivér, but Pinot Gris (Szürkebarát), Sauvignon Blanc, Olaszrizling, Zöldveltelini, Müller-Thurgau (Rizlingszilváni in Hungarian) and Riesling (Rajnai Rizling) are also produced in significant quantities. Although large quantities of black grapes have never been typical to the region, Pinot Noir is no longer produced only for sparkling base wine, and there is 117 hectares of it in total.
The wine district's traditional varieties were Piros Szlankamenka, Mézesfehér, Ezerjó, Szerémi Zöld and Kövidinka. Etyek's "oldest" grape variety is Schlamper, which is of German origin. However, this was not really suitable for making quality wines.
The soils of the Etyek-Buda wine district are not particularly conducive to the development of distinctive, very characterful wines; however, they result in particularly diverse and appealing acidity in the wines. Perhaps this is also why some of the best sparkling base wines are harvested around Etyek. The Etyek wine style is a faithful follower of the fashion for elegant, medium-bodied, dry, reductive wines.