Bordered by Austria to the West, Slovakia to the North, Russia and Romania to the East and Croatia and Slovenia in the South.  Landlocked, rich in natural beauty and resources, the history of Hungary has been tumultuous and has been involved in nearly every regional political arc in the course of the last millenium.

Wine was grown in Western Hungary for certain under the Roman Empire, in the areas then known as Pannonia and today as Transdanubia.   Following the arrival of the Seven Magyar tribes in the 9th century, winemaking continued to flourish.  The Turkish occupation from the mid 16th until the late 17th century was a dark time for the wine industry in Hungary, and this was repeated again under the Communist rule from 1947 until 1989.

Since the end of the Soviet era in Hungary the wine industry has fragmented into many small estates, benefitted from significant foreign investment, and is now experiencing a full scale renaissance.
The Duna River flows from North to South in the center of the country, dividing it almost perfectly in two and passing through its largest and most important city – Budapest.  To the west of the Danube lies Lake Balaton, Europe’s largest lake and an emerging area for top quality wines from Hungary, and many other smaller appellation areas that are producing wines from both native Hungarian and International varieties.  To the East of the Duna lies The Great Plain in the Southeast and the Northern Massif and the Tokaj-Hegyalka regions in the Northeast along the mountain foothills ranges.

The climate is Continental and European, with warm summer and cold winters.  Hungary has a distinct and rich range of native grape varieties.  For whites, the main productions come from Ezerjó which produces light fresh white wines; Furmint and Hárslevelű, which produce both dry white and are also a key components of Tokaji wines.  For reds, the Kadarka is most traditional, although increasingly important is also Kékfrankos (Austria’s Blaufränkisch) and some imported varieties from Western Europe