Balázs Sike, a true son of Badacsonytördemec, found his way home after various detours —both small and large, including a stint on the southern coast of the lake — finally settling back in his native village. Since 2014, he and his wife Réka have been running the estate together. Their progress has been remarkable: the tasting room occupies a 200-year-old building, their restaurant Nefelejcs (Forget-Me-Not) stands at the end of the street and the cellar sits right beside it — all nestled in the shadow of Badacsony's iconic basalt organ pipes.

Last summer, we talked about where the wine world is headed — what kind of reds we’ll be drinking in a decade’s time, what people are increasingly seeking. One thing quickly became clear: Balázs has mastered the art of blending Cabernet Sauvignon and Kékfrankos into a wine built on pure primary fruit, with a remarkable light texture — bottled under his now-iconic label, Skizo Vörös (Red). 
A few weeks passed, the harvest ended, and the first taste of this wine was nothing short of revelatory. Not only was it endlessly charming and light, but you could also feel Balázs’s relentless drive to create something entirely new. Fermented at white-wine temperatures and served properly chilled, it reveals notes of wild strawberry, raspberry and rosehip — best enjoyed in a large glass. This is what we call a true ‘chilled red’.