The village of Helemba is bordered by three rivers: the Danube flows directly in front of it, visible all the way to the Esztergom Basilica. Behind it runs the Ipoly, and on the western side, the Garam winds its way through the landscape. It was here that Oszkár Világi and his team planted nearly 10 hectares of vineyards in 2015. Although 300-year-old cave cellars still stand in one of the village’s loess cliffs, the area had seen no wine activity over the previous 30 years. Therefore, this represents at least as much of a (re)discovery as what happened in Muzsla with Frigyes’ wines.

Because of the rivers, this area is practically a nature reserve, where wild mouflon still roam, and the local waters were once dominated by sturgeon, which even appeared on the label. The volcanic hill is called Burda, with andesitic bedrock covered by clay loess and steep slopes – an excellent site for growing grapes.

One-third of the 9.5-hectare property is cultivated organically, while the rest is in transition.

The range is broad, consisting mainly of international grape varieties, and the winemaking follows a precise, German-style reductive approach. The wines have a popular style, yet alongside the varietal character, each one carries a deeply mineral vibrancy that is unique to the terroir.

Alongside their two reductive white wines – the Grüner Veltliner (Zöldveltelini) and Sauvignon Blanc – the range is built around a classic Riesling. The illustrated map brings together the estate’s ‘terroir selection’ wines, for which the winemaking is more traditional – oxidative rather than reductive, barrel-aged rather than tank-aged, and spontaneously fermented rather than controlled, with lees ageing.
Aged for six months on fine lees in 600-litre Hungarian oak barrels.