VOLCANIC HUNGARY : WINE REGIONS IN HUNGARY and THE GROWING OF WINE

TASTE OF HUNGARY : THE LAND OF FIRE AND SALT

This beautiful article with good photos too! Excerpts:

The diverse mineral-laden soils of these iconic landscapes have also given rise to some of the world’s most unique and prized wines. ... What are now the Tapolca and Káli Basins lay on the edge of the receding Pannonian Sea. More than fifty volcanoes were documented in the area, with their violent eruptions and explosive magma being cooled by the sea’s marshy shores. Huge tuff rings surrounded massive craters, which were later filled with lava lakes. ... In Tokaj, the hills and valleys of Hungary’s most prestigious wine region are also the result of volcanic activity, with miles of picturesque twisting black-mold-coated cellars carved out of the soft volcanic tuff. The Tokaj-Eperjes range of mountains boasts a full spectrum of volcanic rocks and soils which differ from one side of a hill to another. On one side there’s a vineyard with dusky red nyirok soil, and on another black basalt and then white soils glint in the bright sunshine. ....

GREEN GRAPES

TOKAJ WINE MAP

I guess most of us have to just dream about visiting Hungary and traveling the Tokaj wine route, stopping at inns, testing wines in vast old wine cellars with ceilings covered in an important mold, becoming a little tipsy, and happily walking through the towns. But dreaming is a good way to set a goal.

FRUIT BASKET with GRAPES

A HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE URBARIUM 1767 - 1679 VINEYARDS and PRODUCTION of WINE in TOKAJ : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #14

A HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE URBARIUM 1767 -  1679 VINEYARDS and PRODUCTION of WINE in TOKAJ : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #14

TRANSLATE GOOGLE : 1679 YEAR TOKAJ WINE and VINEYARDS

This find, on the Hungaricana - NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY site, again came up using the town name Gonc, and it shows the early link with the town and the wine making and growing of grapes in the Tokaj region.  Here you will learn that some of the vineyards had been confiscated or lost and the names of the people who owned them or were taking care of them.

EXCERPT:  The free grapes confiscated by Menecert Keczer were cultivated by the "ex fructu" by Miklos Szini's widow (the whole funeral is his, in the case of neglected grapes, he does not come to the vine....

(A sense of humor is displayed!)

There is a list of villages this 19 page archival document covers.  If you have wine making in Tokaj in your family history this is a wonderful history.

This is a note to try and CROSS REFERENCE the places and people you see on the census with other searches on Hungaricana.

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This post is part of a series.  To print up all posts, click on the tag Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium

AUTUMN IN TOKAJ COUNTRY

SONOMA WINE : AGOSTON HARASZTHY and BUENA VISTA WINERY

BOOK REVIEW by MAGYAR-AMERICAN

SONOMA WINE and the Story of Buena Vista
by Charles L. Sullivan
C 2013 Boisset Family Estates  (Owner of Buena Vista Winery and financiers of this book project.)

Though there were people of many ethnic backgrounds involved in bringing a multitude of wine grape varieties and wine making to California, Agoston Haraszthy, an early Hungarian immigrant to the United States, and his Buena Vista Winery are the focus of this book that is interesting for the history it reveals without being an overly commercial advertisement for the winery.

Coming from what would be the landed gentry class of Hungarians, but without an aristocratic or noble family, Haraszthy arrived in 1840, leaving his wife behind.  He was a follower of Istvan Szechenyi in his belief in "Progress and Industry."  With an eye to business development and self promotion, he published a travelogue about his travels in American in 1844.  By 1842 his wife had arrived in pre-state Wisconsin, his first attempt at settlement. (He called himself "count".  Then they moved to California.  By 1858 he was claiming to have made 60 gallons of "Tokay" using California grapes: the result was not comparable to the Tokaji wine made in North East Hungary.  He began to plant not only the California native "Mission" grape but a number of East Coast varieties, began to sell cuttings and rooted Vines to Sonoma neighbors and relied increasingly on a Chinese labor force brought from Guangdong by Ho Po.  He ventured into raisins.

A University of California professor named Eugene Hilgard became one of the Berkeley scholars who supported Haraszthys hopes for California agriculture.  Haraszthy continued to travel and went to Europe where he bought 487 varieties of grape to be imported to California.  Of these today about 31 are well established and produce wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc.  A partial list of his buys includes some names I never heard before.  Maybe those of you who are more wine savvy have;  Azelante White, Somaylolo Blue, Kovatsy White, Valtozo Goher, Kardarka - dreg, Bogdany Dinko, Tokay Blanc, Cingadi White, Sarfeher White.  (I pride myself on selecting for my partial lists names that I'm sure are Hungarian and now I want to know more about these grapes!)

The book's second focus is the PHYLLOXERA that wiped out wineries in the United States, France - Europe - and Hungary, because this louse, called the "Great Destroyer" which caused wine root infestation and ruined crops for years is a main cause of the immigration to the United States by my own ancestors.  Unknown west of the Rockies before the 1860's it took till 1869 for French scientists working on the problem to identify the louse.

Agoston Haraszthy died in 1869 but by then he had three sons, one who also became a wine grower and maker, and his Buena Vista Winery was one of several that had great impact on the future of Calirfornia wines.  Today at the winery theatrical performances include an actor playing the "Hungarian nobleman."

What of the Buena Vista Tokaji?  There really isn't one.  The winery uses barrels from France and Hungary, without the thick mold that's on walls and ceilings in the cellars of Tokaji wineries.  They haven't given up and while there you can taste it - from imported bottles.

SONOMA WINEMAKER AGOSTON HARASZTHY FOCUS OF HUNGARIAN MTV FILM

HUNGARIAN TV VISITS SONOMA CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY - SPECIAL FILM link

"The crew from Hungary's national channel "MTV" was filming a documentary on Agoston Haraszthy, the winery's founder. The channel is not to be confused with the American "MTV" music channel, Judit Koltai, one of the crew, explained...."

PREMIER MTV HOME LINK - HUNGARIAN

"Koltai said the documentary will be called "Hungarian World Star—Portrait of Count Agoston Haraszthy...

Haraszthy was a Hungarian immigrant, who established the winery in 1857. The location is a State Historic Landmark, considered the oldest premier winery in California. Haraszthy is known as the father of the California wine industry, having brought vines back from Europe to plant here...

The documentary is due to air on TV on March 15. It will likely appear on the TV channel's website after that, so anyone in the world can see it via the Internet, Koltai said."

If anyone can lead me to the link for the show, I'll be glad to post that.  I haven't found it yet myself!

HAVE YOU EVER HAD HUNGARIAN WINE WHILE LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES?

There are a couple stores that carry Hungarian wine in my city, but they are specialty stores with a few bottles. There are also a couple Hungarian restaurants and only there have I had a glass of Hungarian wine. It seems a shame to not have more experience with Hungarian wine, which seems to be so much part of the culture, but there are so very many other local and imported wines that are less expensive.