Villány-Siklós is the southernmost wine region in Hungary, the country’s most important for red wine production.

Vineyards: Villány-Siklós comprises 2,500 hectares (6,180 acres) of vines. 

Terroir: As Villány’s vineyards occupy the southern and eastern slopes of the Villány mountains they are protected from cold northern influences, says Dr Gabriella Mészáros (Oxford Companion 4th edition). The resulting sub-mediterranean mesoclimate allows almond, fig, apricot and peach trees to thrive here. Villány’s average annual temperature is 11.5ºC with 2,300 hours of sunshine rainfall of 700mm (27.6 inches) annually.

Soil & wine style: Villány is generally known for its powerful red wines, with Cabernet Franc perhaps the most successful of the red French grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir are also grown). Siklós is known for aromatic white wines. Dr Gabriella Mészáros (Oxford Companion 4th edition) says the Villány mountains consist of calcareous rocks deposited in the marine basins of the Mesozoic. This dolomite, marl, and limestone base is covered with sandy loess. Wines from loess-dominated soils are soft, whereas wines from where this loess ‘layer is mixed with limestone debris, having a higher concentration of calcium…produces more acidic wines’.

Wineries

Certified Biodynamic: Weingut Wassmann. 

Bibliography

Dr Gabriella Mészáros, entry for Villány in The Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015), p.783.