Villány, the capital of red wines, also known as the Hungarian Bordeaux

Wine tourism in Villány, a small town of 2,500 inhabitants that attracts almost 100,000 tourists annually, has reached its peak. And it has been patiently built to perfection, honing its distinctiveness for the reds, mostly cabernet Franc, but also Portuguese, Frankovka and Kadarka. And don’t forget the cabernet sauvignon or merlot, for which Villány was crowned the Hungarian capital of red wines or Hungarian Bordeaux.

Villány and cabernet franc have become so close that the world's largest wine authorities estimate that precisely in this southernmost Hungarian vineyard, where 2,500 hectares are covered in vines, the variety gives its best global results. And it is so good that Villány winemakers practically adopted the variety and called it - Villány franc. Of the total quantities of Villány cabernet franc, only 15 percent is exported, which is why a visit to Villány to taste cabernet franc is a must for every true wine geek.

Villány's rise to the throne as a world-renowned wine destination did not happen overnight. Back at the end of the communist era, in 1987, Villány earned the title of the city of grapes and wine. In the first years after freeing itself of communist shackles, Villány and the seven surrounding villages established the first wine road in Hungary. In the city's main street, Baros Gábor, a row of 50 tightly packed wine cellars and restaurants was declared a cultural asset, and the biggest wine players there have almost begun to compete in the construction of contemporary architectural buildings that offer more than just wine. Sauska Winery, at the very entrance to Villány, is one step away from receiving a Michelin star for its gastronomic creations under the baton of chef Attila Bicsár. From their terrace, covered with Dalmatian stone and surrounded by vineyards, you can enjoy the best views of the nearby hill from which paragliders descend in large numbers.

In the central hotel Crocus, part of the Gere winery complex, along with the ambitious fine dining restaurant Mandula, you can experience their wine spa, which is a bath in Portuguese wine. At the sizable Bock winery, covering an area of 5,000 square meters, at the end of its cellar with 1,500 barrique barrels and the owner's private wine archive, lies the Bock Chapel. This round hall was perfect for its architect to play with the acoustics - if you step on a specific zodiac sign drawn on the floor, you’ll hear the person standing seven meters away on the opposite side as if they were whispering in your ear, better than you’d hear the person standing right next to you.

Next to the Bock winery you’ll find Horst Hummel, the "Paganini of Portuguese wine" - a Berlin lawyer who moved to Villány and started producing wine in a radically organic way, achieving cult status in the circles of supporters of the wine without interventionism movement. Not two hundred meters away, the winemaker Csaba Malatinszky enjoys the respect of the world's greatest wine connoisseurs. It is for the quality of his wines, rated by James Suckling with 98 points, he claims that instead of blood, cabernet franc flows through his veins.

THE NUMBERS
2500 inhabitants
100,000 tourists a year
2500 hectares of vine

DID YOU KNOW?
In Villány, you can experience something called a wine spa - a bath in Portuguese wine

Written by: Željko Garmaz