Lakeside vineyards, volcanic slopes, myriad native varieties and a new generation of energetic winemakers – Balaton is being reborn as a top-notch wine region. Above, the view from Sabar winery towards Szent György Hill. Come back tomorrow for reviews of over 100 Balaton wines.
‘This is a spiritual place’, says Robert Gilvesy, referring to the chapel-strewn Szent György Hill, north of Lake Balaton, where he makes his wines. He’s certainly not the first to find inspiration in this western Hungarian landscape. The bucolic, verdant warmth of the region, its uncanny flat-top volcanoes erupting from the landscape and the expansive...