Tokaj-Hétszőlő Organic Vineyards

There is a jewel in every crown. To the South side of Mount Tokaj, the Imperial Estate of Tokaj-Hétszőlő owns the most fertile land and the best vines, and since 1502, Nature has given more generously of its fruits here than anywhere else. The creation of the Estate owes nothing to chance: the Garai family simply selected the best 7 parcels of the Tokaj Mountain, hence the name: Hét-Szőlő means “7 parcels of vineyard” in Hungarian.

Unique and Noble Terroir:  Wines this admirable were never going to remain a secret for very long… the parcels of the Tokaj-Hétszőlő Estate were classed as Tokaj Premier Cru as early as 1772, when the Estate still belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This distinction pays homage to the unique characteristics of what is an exceptional terroir.

The Special Style of the Hétszőlő Wines: Nature conspired to reunite all the conditions necessary on the Tokaj-Hétszőlő Estate for the much sought-after Botrytis cinerea to flourish – the land is a veritable treasure-trove. But when it comes to wine, you can never take anything for granted. Inspired by the mysterious powers of a single location, men have sought to marshal their know-how to promote this unique gift, making decisions without compromise and controlling yields in a constant search for ultimate quality. For a long time, it was thought that the shimmering colour of the Aszús of Tokaj-Hétszőlő was a sign of gold… Alchemists even examined this strange phenomenon, but failed to find an explanation. One thing is sure: the peculiarities of the Hétszőlő terroir produce wines of great harmony and incomparable complexity, imbued with the smoothness and nose characteristic of loess soils.

Organic Approach at Tokaj-Hétszőlő Wine Estate: From the beginning, Hétszőlő has had a very good background for organic viticulture and has always tried to be conscious about environmental issues. As there was no viticulture at the slopes of Hétszőlő between the 1950s and 1990 – in fact, in the era of massive agrochemical use of the Soviet regime – it was nearly a must to figure out a more environmentally friendly way of culture at the time of replantation at Hétszőlő vineyards in 1991.

Hétszőlő has never used artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides.

Mysterious Mount Tokaj…seen from above, it rises above the autumn mists, its slopes gleaming with golden grapevines, and its summit overlooking the vast Hungarian plain into the distant southern horizon. In fine weather, you can even see Slovakia and Ukraine. The undisputed king of Hungarian vineyards, Mount Tokaj is located in the North of the country, 230 km east of Budapest. This legendary place produces exceptional wines, served at the court of Louis XIV, the latter said of Tokaj, it’s the “King of the Wines and The Wine of the Kings”.

To make organic culture more official, Hétszőlő began the conversion process for organic certification in 2009 with the label of Hungária Ökogarancia, an official organic certifier in Hungary.

Today, all the 55 hectares of vineyards of the estate are cultivated strictly in an organic way. The first attempt for organic wine was in vintage 2014, where a dry Furmint was vinified according to organic wine-making rules. Since the 2015 vintage, all our dry wines have been certified organic, and on top of that, from 2017, all our sweet wines are certified organic too.

“We do believe that with an organic approach, we can protect the vitality of the vines and so have better quality now and in the future. In order to be able to communicate this philosophy, we only use our own grapes to create the Hétszőlő wines.” – Gergely Makai, Technical Director & General Manager