Mátra, Hungary

100% Zweigelt (a red cross between Kékfrankos and Sankt Laurent)

Macerated for two weeks in an open vat, worked by hand, aged in tank for 1.5 years, bottled unfiltered with an additional year of bottle aging. 

A Pincefalu is a village dedicated entirely to small family cellars dug into the hillsides with a connected press house on top and often a small living space above that. While only a handful of these cellar houses are still actively used by hobby winemakers today, a few families are doing something really special, like Szilvia and Tibor of Kékhegy Pince in Gyöngyöspata. A first generation winemaking family and not a part of long lineage in the Mátra, they actively chose this place because of its massive potential and freedom to pursue what they want. Often unfairly pigeonholed as just producing fresh mass-produced aromatic white wine, it’s one of the most underestimated appellations in Hungary. It has remarkable andesite riddled volcanic soils, a wide range of varietals and is ideal for organic farming. There’s also a synergy of other like minded producers that we are humbled to work with like Fanni and Gábor Karner, Bálint Losonci and Levente Major who are all pioneering producers in the natural wine scene in Hungary. Szilvia and Tibor founded the winery in 2009 with a single hectare. Certified organic in 2016 they now farm 3 hectares and every job in the vineyard and in the cellar is handled by them and their two young daughters.