The undisputed king of Hungarian vineyards, Mount Tokaj is located to the north of the country, 200 km east of Budapest. This legendary location produces exceptional wines, protected since 1772 by the first appellation of origin awarded in the entire world.
The Royal Imperial Estate of Tokaj-Hétszolo owns beautiful land and cracking vines on the southern slopes of Mount Tokaj since 1502. No surprise, then, that it has attracted the attention of the greats of the wine world for over 5 centuries!
The creation of the estate owes nothing to chance: the Garai family simply selected the best 7 parcels of the land in the region, hence the name - Hét Szolo means "7 parcels of vineyard" in Hungarian. Thence followed a series of prestigious owners, including Gaspar Karoli, translator of the Bible into Hungarian, Gabor Bethlen, prince of Transylvania and the Princes Rakoczi, a grand aristocratic family. The Habsburg royal family finally took possession of the vineyard and Tokaj-Hétszolo became an Imperial Estate in 1711. It was to remain the property of the Austro-Hungarian Crown for almost two centuries. Following a turbulent 20th Century, the Tokaj-Hétszolo Estate became one of the Michel Reybier vineyards in 2009, joining Cos d'Estournel, Saint-Estèphe Grand Cru classé, Château-Marbuzet and Goulée Médoc in their portfolio.
Ecological responsibility is at the forefront of the winery’s objectives. There wasn’t any agriculture at Hétszőlő between the 1950’s and 1990 - in fact throughout the era of massive agrochemical use of Soviet regime. When the vineyards were replanted in 1991 sustainability was put to the fore. To make organic culture more official, Hétszőlő began the conversion process for organic certification in 2009 with the label of Hungária Ökogarancia, an official organic certifier in Hungary.
Today all the 55 hectares of vineyards of the estate are cultivated strictly in organic way. Minuscule amounts of copper and sulphur are employed. Instead of systemic chemicals they use more natural products like orange oil, baking powder and other substances. No artificial fertilizers, nor herbicides, are used and natural pest management is practised using predatory insects. Soil management is done by means of composting and diverse cover crop. Ecological islands have been established next to vine parcels to increase biodiversity. Allied to these changes is a move towards more natural wine making, using indigenous yeasts and spontaneous fermentation.
