21 July 2024 / Edit Szabó / Photos: Nándor Lang
What’s the summer been like in Sopron this year?
It’s very hot, like everywhere in the country, and the humidity is high because of Lake Fertő. If you go to Sopron and take a walk in the Lővérek, you can find some relief in the woods, but the microclimate here in Fertőrákos is a little hotter thanks to the lake. Nevertheless, we love it, and we love living here. We do the vineyard work in the early morning or the evening, and during the day, we find something to do in the cool of the cellar.
With its colourful houses, small winding streets, charming restaurants and vibrant cultural life, Sopron is a highly attractive tourist destination. Do people spending a weekend there like to come out to Fertőrákos and drink wine in your gardens?
Our small town used to attract a lot of tourists. They came by car, bicycle or on foot, visited the sights, then went down to the open-water beach, had a swim, went for a boat trip and often ended the day at our place. My favourite way to relax was also to cycle to the lake in the afternoon and go for a swim. But in 2019, a gigantic tourist development began, which means we can’t even reach our old, favourite beach, which has been closed off for years by a barrier, with the work area protected by security guards. Moreover, the work seems to have stopped, so nobody knows when we will get it back – if ever.
That does not sound very good. I suppose this means that there are fewer people going there, rather more of them are coming directly to your place…
That’s exactly right. For six years now, I’ve been opening my terrace once a week during the summer. I have charcuterie plates, coffee, cordials, artisanal bonbons and of course my own wines on offer. I can’t complain, because there are a lot of visitors and lots of returning guests, but of course significantly less than before the construction began. But what hurts most is that if anyone asks where to go for a swim or a boat trip, I can only advise them to go to Austria. The Austrian side of Lake Fertő is very attractive, there is a cycle path, boat trips, lovely beaches and good restaurants.
Your winery is known for its full-bodied, dense, velvety, serious red wines. Are those what people are drinking in this heat?
At this time, not really, but that’s natural. My wines tend to emerge from the cellar or wine fridge in the cooler months of the year. Those who come to us in summer usually taste everything and take a few bottles of what they like home, so they have something to open in the winter.
The winery was left to you over two decades ago. After your father’s untimely death, you decided to make his dreams come true. You gave up the life you had been living, took the plunge and grew into the task. You are the face of Luka Winery, but others support you in your work. Who do you work with?
My Austrian advisor Rudolf Križan has been supporting me from the very first moment. If he says something is okay, I can relax, because that is great praise from him. I have a wonderful winemaking colleague, Rebeka Tulok, who joined me straight from university, with a degree in viticulture, winemaking and botany. We’ve only been working together for three years, but she has quickly got to grips with the style of the wines and says that she can feel they are made with love. I am grateful to her, because she not only brings her knowledge but also a woman’s care and precision into our life. Driving the tractor and other men’s work is done by my partner, Péter Szigethi. That is how our little team is composed, and I feel like we are perfectly in sync.
There was a time when the Sopron winemakers’ community seemed to me to be very strong, but nowadays they seem to appear together less often. The wineries are making their voices heard individually, but I feel that there is rarely a community presence. What could be the reason for this?
I may not be the best person to ask, as I left the Sopron Wine Route Association in 2015.
Oh really! And why?
My dad joined at the beginning, so there was no question about whether I’d continue what he had started. Over the years, however, it has become clear that winemaking is still seen by many as an exclusively male profession, and some members found it difficult to accept that they had a young woman sitting among them, who was also working. I had ideas, I had visions, and I really thought we were heading in the same direction, but then it turned out that everybody had different ideas.
Was there a specific conflict?
Kurt Taschner, Titi Molnár and I decided to invite renowned national experts to the local wine competition. We undertook the organisation of everything, and our only condition was that if a wine did not reach the bronze medal point threshold, it could not be brought to the city wine events. Then I received a phone call from quite an important place, after which I decided to leave the association. I’m sorry about this, because there are still so many other great wineries, but what can we do when there are also those who are destroying the reputation of Sopron wines with their sub-standard wines? But I also remember that when I started going to the Budapest Wine Festival in 2004, the cooperation in Sopron was exemplary. Since then, everything has gone wrong, and I can only hope that someday someone will achieve the feat that I took a crack at, and we can start building a quality-oriented community.
So, are you a lone hero braving the elements?
Fortunately not! A group of us, owners of wineries, restaurants and hotels, have founded the Hello Fertőrákos Association. It’s a small community, but we are very determined. We support each other and create important events together. I’m expecting a lot from this.
When you inherited the estate from your father, it was 1.7 hectares in size. Today, it is a little over three hectares and you have five different grape varieties. What would you say are Sopron’s most important varieties?
I think that the pride of Sopron is definitely Kékfrankos; it’s part of our tradition, part of our identity, and it’s no coincidence that it is a priority in our winery. Our Zweigelt is also a favourite of many, my father swore by the variety. He always said that if the Austrians can make such good wine from it, let’s show them what the Hungarians can do! And even if we don’t have any, I think Zöldveltelini is also very important in Sopron. It’s true that it was Austrian winemakers who introduced the variety to the world, but in recent years, Sopron producers have also been making increasingly good Zöldveltelini, to everyone’s delight.
What would your dad say if he could see what his little 1.7-hectare estate had become 22 years later?
I think he would really like it, and it would make him especially happy to see Brúno and Peti on the tractor. He would be happy because we have three more rows of Zweigelt than in his time, he would like the fact that the vineyards are beautiful and that there are no missing vines, and I think he would also be happy that we have one hectare of Merlot. I always wanted that, and he promised it, but he didn’t manage to achieve it. So, yes, I think he would find the estate beautiful, and I trust he’d also like the wines.
Rudolf Križan certainly likes them, and that’s important, because you really trust his opinion. Is there anything you disagree with him about?
There is one thing: the amphora. When I went to Georgia, he said, “Go and have a good time, but don’t come home with an amphora!”
And yet you brought one?
No. Not from there, rather from Tuscany. When I showed him it, he said it would be good for flowers. He really didn’t believe in it. First, we used it for a Zweigelt, then a Merlot, and when we tasted blind together, Mr Križan said he liked those two wines the best. When it turned out they had been in amphora, he could hardly believe his ears. Since then, we’ve made a Kékfrankos in it, and in a blind tasting, he also told me it was the best, so that was reassuring. Now I’ve decided to put Traminer in it, for my Péter. Let’s see how it turns out.
Wine consumption is falling worldwide. Is that your experience too?
On the contrary. In my case, it’s rising. My cellar is almost empty, and there are still two months to go until harvest. Okay, I know it’s only 3 hectares, not 30, but it’s still a pleasure for me. And it’s also good to see that many young people are coming to taste our wines. They are nice, open-minded and interested. Many of them came with their families when they were kids and now, they bring their friends. But don’t imagine any 20-year-olds, as I don’t make festival wines – you need to grow into my concentrated reds. However, I’m convinced there will always be a market for carefully crafted, quality wine.
What would you ask a fairy godmother for?
Eternal joy nothing else! Of course, I could have said a good tractor, because I really need one, but we’ll get it, or if not, we’ll find another way. I never want to run out of joy for as long as I live.
