History
Grape and wine production in the Carpathian basin dates back
thousands of years as does winemaking in many European countries.
However, what sets Hungary apart is that the legendary Tokaj region
is home to the world's oldest vineyard classification system,
dating back to 1772. In 1630 Máté Sepsy Laczkó detailed the method
for making Aszú that is still in use today.
Going further back data is scarce, but the oldest relating
records and artifacts originate from the Celtic times. Many
historical sources cite a boom during the Roman Empire, with the
Huns and the Avars particularly active. Records from the period of
the Árpád dynasty (9th - 13th Century) confirm that advanced
horticulture, including vine-growing, existed in the Carpathian
basin. The Church contributed greatly to the development. The
reigns of the Anjou House (14th Century) and then Mátyás Hunyadi
(1469-1490) saw dramatic improvement both in quantity and quality,
with the export story beginning and Hungarian wines became popular
across Europe. The Ottoman broke this dynamic, except in Tokaj
which really started to gain ground with its wines in demand in
northern Europe. Also, in 1551 Pope Julian III declared Tokaj fit
for a pope's table. After the Ottoman's were expelled, the sales
skills of the Thököly and Rákóczi families helped make Tokaj the
wine of choice of the Russian and Polish royal courts. The period
following the doomed Rákóczi war of independence against the
Habsburgs was not so buoyant with an extremely disadvantageous duty
system imposed on wine exports. The Habsburgs invited in loyal
immigrants en masse and many brought red grapes with them: the
Serbs contributing Kadarka, Germanic Swabians introducing
Kékfrankos and Portugieser (formerly Kékoportó) to regions like
Szekszárd and Villány. Meanwhile, a Hungarian Count, Ágoston
Haraszty, played a prominent role in founding the Californian wine
industry in the 19th Century, especially be experimenting with
European grapes.
Hungary's "Compromise" with the Austrians in 1867 saw a period of
unprecended growth in domestic demand for wine as cash piled into
Budapest as it became a worthy sister to Vienna. However, disaster
struck less than a decade later when phylloxera devastated the
nation's vineyards, followed by other diseases from the US.
This brought about a fundamental shift in the sector: from the
variety structures through the production technologies, to the
geographic location of the vineyards.
The industry started to stabilize before the seismic political
shifts of the 20th century.
The crumbling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a result of the
First World War and the associated Treaty of Trianon of 1919 saw
Hungary lose two-thirds of its territory but it did keep most of
its main wine regions, including most of Tokaj, Eger, Villány,
Szekszárd, Balaton and Somló. The Second World War was followed
by
agrarianization, then nationalization and cooperative farming due
socialism created political barriers in terms of markets and
quantity not quality becoming the main focus. Low yielding grapes
like Kadarka were uprooted en masse.
However, Hungary has moved on significantly since the fall of
the Berlin Wall and end of communism in 1989. In the past two
decades both vineyard management and oenology have seen substantial
modernisation, and now the country is producing wines that are not
only technically sound but also deliver great value. Hungarian
winegrowers are now paying more attention to indigenous varieties
and many are focusing on expressing the terroir in their wines.