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12th November 2024

Where Three Rivers Meet - Hungarian wine from Slovakia. Or Slovak wine from Hungary. New, and yet old.

Hungary’s history is as rich and multi-layered as its wines, and its wine history is just as complex as its political one. At the heart of the Kingdom of Hungary, which endured for a millennium (roughly: 1000 to 1946) was the city of Esztergom, on the southern bank of the Danube. The Kingdom survived Ottoman control, although this caused subdivisions, and becoming part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and then, post World War I and the Trianon Treaty, a reduced Hungary. This then survived the drawing of the Iron Curtain after World War II, and its lifting at the end of the 1980s.

I was told that there are people still alive who have lived in Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary (again), The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia (again) and Slovakia. Without once ever having moved house.

For followers of wine, the most significant consequence of all this is that Tokaj is the only delimited (PDO - protected designation of origin) wine area in the world which is in two countries. Although, of course, it has for much of its history been in one country/empire: Tokaj-Hegyalja.
The Slovak part in the north (still Hungarian speaking) was carved off as part of the Trianon Treaty. But it is a tiny fraction of the whole - 3 villages and about 2.5% of the total Tokaj vineyard area.

Three Rivers Valley

But there is another similarly affected area, and it is overdue a renaissance and recognition. The issue is that - unlike in Tokaj - all the really good vineyard areas are on the Slovak side, north of the Danube. To the south, lies the Hungarian Upper Pannonian Region, and specifically the area around the town of Neszmély. Here, almost all white grapes (and mainly Olaszrizling) grow on rich alluvial soils producing abundant crops of perfectly pleasant but relatively undistinguished everyday white wine. On the northern side of the Danube is a different wine area altogether which was once all part of lands owned by the Cathedral of Esztergom (an exquisite town which remains in Hungary). Marcus Aurelius stopped here, and wrote his ‘Meditations’ which already mentioned the local wine.
The imposing and beautiful Citadel of Esztergom remained the highest building in Hungary until the opening of a tower block in Budapest two years ago.
Across the Danube, Loosely part of the Slovak Nové Zámky District, this historic wine area is styling itself today as the Three Rivers Region. The three rivers concerned are the Danube/Dunaj/ Duna, and two of its tributaries (in Slovak/Hungarian respectively), the Hron / Garam and the Ipeľ / Ipoly.

The soils are poorer, and in large part volcanic, the topography is more varied and with many and much steeper slopes (many facing south and east). As this is a reborn wine area, there are diverse varieties and wine styles to explore. Everyone here speaks Hungarian (and some do not speak Slovak at all), and mercifully most speak English as well. Labelling however, has to be in Slovak, which means that wine names only just familiar to wine students such as Kekfrankos/Blaufrankish and Grüner-Veltliner/Zöld Veltlini. become labelled as Frankovka and Veltlínske Zelené.

I visited four of the key wineries of the 3 Rivers Region (there are ten in total). Each is quite different to the others.

Bott-Frigyes
Available in the UK through Monty Wines
Frigyes Bott (in both Hungarian and Slovak the surname is written first) and his son, also Friyges, and wife and daughter (both Susan) run probably the most famous domaine in the region and the only one with significant export beyond Slovakia and Hungary. Just 10 hectares of volcanic soils on the hilltop near Štúrovo, with no plans to expand. The winery is near Komárno, and they have a beautiful tasting room and guesthouse on the banks of the Danube in Radvan. The vineyards are all organic, and the wines are made with minimal intervention and low sulfur. As is the case with many of the producers, the labels are sophisticated, featuring elegantly designed typography.
From a stunning range, of particular note for me are the Hárslevelü, single vineyard Furmint Faricka, and the deliciously savoury and yet fruity Pinot Noir.



Château Rúbaň
Wines available across Slovakia, and in limited export in Hungary and Czechia.
The eponymous château, in a beautiful wooded park near the village of Strekov has been completely restored with award-winning architecture of old and new buildings including a luxury hotel, conference/wedding/party/venue, and a gleaming new winery located where the old stables were.
The very beautiful packaging of the wines features elements from the property’s and region’s history.
The main feature of Château Rúbaň is their use of local crossings, especially those produced with limitless patience and care by local vine breeder Andras Korpas.
This leads to some completely unfamiliar words on the labels, but varieties such as Svoi Sen (Pinot Gris x Feteasca Blanca x Riesling) can have the characters of each of their components and the two wines (with and without oak) are delicious. Of more local appeal is the black variety Donaj (Sankt Laurent x (Portugueser x Various)) with its deep Primitivo-like fruity charm. A particular highlight is the as-yet unnamed dessert wine “Super Milia”, a botrytis wine of superb concentration and depth, from the variety Milia (Muller-Thurgau x Gewürztraminer). There are of course also international varieties and blends. Almost all of the production is sold locally.

Fyrmonia Winery
Wines available in Germany and Hungary as well as direct.
In the village of Rúbaň, owners David and Ildikó Bauer, with their winemaker Zoltan, have built a brand new winery behind a completely authentically and beautifully reconstructed village house. All the wines are from vineyards from hill slopes above Štúrovo, and everything is farmed organically.
This a small family winery in its infancy, but as the vineyards age the wines are blossoming with each vintage, and so a name to watch. At least one importer in the UK is thought to be interested. And should you find yourself in the region, definitely to visit. Particularly enjoyable are their reds, from both Pinot Noir and Blaufrankisch.

Világi Winery
With a stunning new winery built in 2019, which affords amazing views of the whole Three Rivers region, the Danube and Ipoly rivers and across to Hungary. They have 9 hectares of their own vineyards around the winery and another towards the Ipoly river, but the building has capacity for a harvest up to 25ha, and they are looking to expand and plant more. The winery itself can host conferences and dinners for up to around 40 guests, and to see the sunset over the vineyards from the terrace would be a terrific way to finish any day.
General Manager Akos Spek and US-trained winemaker Gabor Muller present a range of beautifully packaged and glossy internationally-styled wines.
The oaky Chardonnay and Riesling are very well made examples of their style, and the Russian-River-Valley-esque Pinot Noir Terroir Selection is super rich but lustrously made also.




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