Imre's 30th harvest in Somló
We’re as old as Imre's estate, we’ve been following him throughout all of his 30 vintages. The smallest winery in our selection, with proven methods, intricate knowledge of the place of growth, fine-tuning, three varieties, barely half a hectare of vines.
The grapes were gracious with me once again.
We’re as old as Imre's estate, we’ve been following him throughout all of his 30 vintages. The smallest winery in our selection, with proven methods, intricate knowledge of the place of growth, fine-tuning, three varieties, barely half a hectare of vines.
It’s an odd-numbered year, “the grapes were gracious with me once again,” says Imre about his sensational 2021 wines. It was one of the great experiences of recent times to taste them in peace before they departed the cellar. They are less fiery, but still very much Somló wines. They are juicy, pristinely pure, full-bodied wines with lively acidity.
In 2021, ripening was slower, so the grapes had time to become more flavoursome.
Olaszrizling – 0.18 hectare / 1,530 bottles
Tramini – 0.16 hectare / 930 bottles
Sárgamuskotály – 0.04 hectare / 240 bottles
„Usually, we harvest one barrel at a time. I have a small Italian destemmer. I try to use it in a way that the stems are not damaged and the grapes are only crushed slightly. I don’t go for much skin contact, only for a maximum of 2-3 hours, until the entire amount is destemmed.
We transfer it from the vat to the hand press with buckets. Pressing takes a long time. You can't force it, because if you do, the channels formed in the pomace – where the must flows – will get clogged. However, we also make sure that it flows constantly. We sit next to the press and turn it a little if necessary. The unwinding part usually comes around 7-8 in the evening. I dismantle the press, Gyöngyi washes the basket, I wash the rest of the press.
Then, we put the pomace back and continue pressing it carefully. Sometimes I take a nap in the meantime because it goes on well into the night. The fresh must is settled for 8-10 hours. It’s important that it’s not too pure, to avoid all the yeasts settling, because they are needed for spontaneous fermentation. And we don’t transfer it into the barrel with a pump (because I would never be able to wash it properly), but with a bucket. From that point on, we don’t touch it for a while.
After spontaneous fermentation, we fill the barrels up, we rack once in December and once in the spring, and bottling usually happens at the end of July. That’s when the year is finished for me.”
Imre Györgykovács
2021
GYÖRGYKOVÁCSNagy-Somlói Sárgamuskotály 2021
GYÖRGYKOVÁCSNagy-Somlói Tramini 2021
