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Small hill, great wines.

2 minutes with Bálint Földi

2 minutes with Tamás Répási

2 minutes with Gábor Ádám

Sabar – where our name comes from

 

Sabar Hill with its 217 meters high altitude, situated near the village of Káptalantóti is one of the smallest of the mountains of Balaton Uplands, however regarding its qualities, Sabar is a place with great potential. The centre of Sabar estate, and the majority of our vineyards are located here. Sabar Winery was founded in 2009, and since then our territories have grown up to 7 hectares, besides we have renovated two old cellars of Sabar Hill and filled them with wine – ensuring that life would return to this wonderful hill of vineyards. Our outstanding terroir driven single varietal wines have soon caught the attention of quality oriented wine consumers.

 

A small hill of great wines

 

Though Sabar is my dream that has come true, the wine house is not meant to bring pleasure only to me. I am the only owner of the winery, but we manage it with a team, as a team, together. The duty of every single member of the team is equally important and precious from the vineyard tasks through the cleaning of the guest house to conducting wine tastings. The final outcome – a glass of stunning wine or an unforgettable winery visit – embodies the enthusiastic work and the heart of ours.

 

A land uf unparallel beauty
Badacsony wine region is one of the oldest wine growing regions of Hungary. Our estate and its neighbourhood has an superb view – especially from the top of Tóti hill. Viticulture and winemaking of this land dates back to historic times: first the Celts, then the Romans and after them our forefathers cultivated vineyards here. Currently nearly 1600 hectares are under vines in Badacsony. The wines made of grapes grown here owe their unique aromas to the soil layered on the ancient volcanos and the special submediterranean mesoclimate with abundant sunshine.

 

The heritage of volcanos

 

Millions of years ago Balaton Uplands were under the Pannon sea and in the deep fierce volcano activities took place. The famous witness mountains are the result of these geological activities. The mountains are the following (just to mention the most well known ones): Badacsony, Szent György mountain, Csobánc, Gulács, Tóti, Haláp. Farther from lake Balaton we can find Somló mountain, Kis-Somló and Ság hill. The land is still covered by ancient, Pannon clay and sand occassionally with some loess, while the the feet of the mountains are covered by basalt and loamy soil mixed with basalt tuff detritus (in places with limestone and red sandstone). This volcanc subsoil provides the local soil with potassium and trace elements, moreover this soil is responsible for the body, the rich acidity, high extract content, high alcohol content and the typical mineral aroma profile of the wines made here. The peculiar submediterranean climate is partially a consequence of the vicinity of lake Balaton. The surface of the water reflects and multiplies sunshine, which heats the basalt and less steep slopes. These slopes have ideal orientation and are protected from the cold north wind. Basalt has a benign characteristic of absorbing the heat of the sun daytime and radiating it back during the night – causing a natural protection from severe night cold and ensuring tempered climate.

 

The reign of white grapes

 

Due to the devastating phylloxera epidemic at the end of the 1800s, the grape varieties and the viticulture techniques of Badacsony wine region have altered. The plantations destroyed during the epidemic were replaced mainly with Olaszrizling. The proportion of this variety is still higher than 50%. Other typical varieties are Rhine Riesling, Rizlingszilváni (Müller Thurgau), Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Muscat Ottonel, Tramini, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and the indigenous varieties exclusively grown in this region: Kéknyelű, Budai Zöld, Rózsakő, Vulcanus, Zeus. In moderate amount, but nowadays black grapes are also cultivated, these are Merlot, Kékfrankos, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Zweigelt.