You're called László, so where does the name Gizella come from?
My grandparents moved to Tokaj from Debrecen. They were looking for a holiday home, and found a home and a lifestyle on the banks of the Bodrog. My grandmother is called Gizella, she made very good wine, of course in a different way.
So it was obvious that you would become a winemaker?
No, I wanted to be a basketball player, an agricultural economist, and such like. But I was the only grandchild, so I had to help out. The way they were seduced by the country, I also fell for. Following a spell in Budapest, we literally arrived here at the banks of the Bodrog, which makes me really very happy today. Of course, I learnt the profession at school as well. I'm a grape-grower and oenologist, but the equation here is between the winemaking and the lifestyle but not between the profession and qualifications.
Such winemakers are called artisans these days, even though we don't know exactly what it means. Are you one?
I cultivate a small estate: six hectares in five vineyards, parcels with different soil, location and styles. I've been working with a small group for years. The same enthusiastic, precise people go around the vineyards, we do the green harvesting the same way they renovate the Parliament building: continuously. We catch everything in each phase of our work, every wine goes through my hands. By now I've learnt that the lion's share of work happens in the vineyards: often we work with bush vines, with horses, we plough with our hands, wherever it's reasonable to do so. Of course we've got a pneumatic press but that's our only machine. Apart from that it's only our two hands and our hearts. With the artisanship, it's not the concept that matters but the control, the getting to understand things and our hands that add to it. This way you always get to know about everything that's happening. You literally keep the process in your hands. It's hard and beautiful work.
Furmint or Hárs?
Furmint and Hárs. At our estate the proportion is 80%-20% but the role of Hárslevelű is growing more and more. We select every wine from single vineyards. Even if we still do it on a small scale, we try to show what styles the different varieties on different soils have. Hárslevelű is a miracle: it shows the terroir, the stones and the soil in a way that it remains rich, enjoyable and fruity. That's the style with which we'd like to be among the best. And we'd like to continue developing. For me 2011 was the year of the Hárs. The wines in this vintage are aromatic and nicely healthy.
Natural winemaking or with chemicals?
We aim to be natural both in the vineyards and in our cellar next to the Bodrog. We harvest by hand, and process the selected grapes carefully, we settle the must, and search for fruity, rich flavours while keeping the local values with minimal intervention.
May 2012
„The 2011 wines were created via 16 small harvests and through heaps of experimenting, although they were always made in a conscientious manner. This was our seventh harvest in the small cellar that was named after my grandmother. It was a special experience, the end of a year of learning, in which we’ve been lucky that every detail could be the work of our hands. What gave us the greatest joy and the most work was our latest discovery: the cordon and bush trained vines of the Szil valley. We are getting to know this terraced vineyard: its wonderful character, soil and potential. It is now our most treasured plot on the side of the Tokaj hill, with its old name of Mézes-mály.”
Vineyards:
Szil-völgy next to Tarcal, dacitic tuff, loess
Medve between Mád and Bodrogkeresztúr, rhyolite tuff
Szent Tamás near Mád, red clay with zeolite
Kastély Bodrogkeresztúr, rhyolite tuff and loess
Barát next to Tarcal, dacitic tuff and loess
Winemaker: László Szilágyi (34)
Foundation of the winery: 2005
Area: 6 ha in five vineyards.
Annual production: 8,000 to 10,000 bottles
Winemaking and wine style: grapes harvested in several, small batches, selected and pressed in whole bunches, fermented in barrels with selected yeast. Aged in oak and hand bottled in the cellar. Colourful character, uniqueness, differs according to the vineyards and varieties.
