The everyday red wine of Villány is Portugieser. Alongside the serious reds, this wine represents a different style, characterized by bright fruit, playful acidity, and freshness. In keeping with Villány traditions, our winery has been cultivating this grape variety since the very beginning, and since 2017, we have also been bottling our own organic wine from it.
There are several theories regarding how this grape variety arrived in Hungary, but we know from historical documents that in the second half of the 19th century, it was cultivated on a significant scale primarily in Austria and in Sopron, located in western Hungary. Today, its presence in these regions has declined; at the same time, however, it has become widespread in Villány, where it was introduced by the Swabians, who played a significant role in the local wine culture. Today, we can say our wine region is considered the most important growing area for this grape variety within Hungary.
To say that this grape variety has played an important role in the history of our winery would be an understatement. In fact, we owe our very existence to it. The winery’s founder, Attila Gere, did not consider himself a wine drinker for many years. His opinion of wine only changed when he started courting his future wife, Katalin, and her father offered him a glass of wine in the cellar. ‘Fine, I’ll just drink it,’ I thought. I sniffed the glass and caught a whiff of its aroma! Then I tasted it – good heavens! I suddenly realised that the people of Villány don’t know what they have on their hands! Gold! If I, a beer drinker, like it, then wine drinkers will love it even more.” We’ve known ever since that this glass of Portugieser was a milestone, as it inspired Attila Gere to start making his own wines.
However, this grape variety is not important only to us; it can be found at nearly every winery in Villány. Among the red grape varieties, the harvest begins with this one, so in a wine region dominated by red wines, the start of the Portugieser harvest is a major event every year. The bunches arriving at the winery are fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks, and then, like most Portugiesers, they undergo only a short ageing period in large oak barrels to preserve their lightness and fruity aromas.
In Hungary, the variety known as Portugieser is closely associated with the St Martin’s Day celebration on November 11, when we offer it to our guests in Villány in small quantities. However, at our winery, the new vintage appears on the market only in January or February following the harvest. As freshness is one of its greatest virtues, we recommend enjoying it within one-two years, as that’s when it’s at its finest.
2017 was a milestone year for both the grape variety and the winery, as it was the vintage in which we first introduced our organic Portugieser. This selection lot is made exclusively from grapes grown in one of the wine region’s premier growing areas: the Ördögárok vineyard.
After decades of neglect, we started growing grapes again in this area in the 2000s. The terroir is unique, characterised by steep slopes and an incline. It is essentially an enclosed basin with a sub-Mediterranean climate, producing wines with distinctly velvety, warm tones and soft tannins. Compared to the winery’s classic Portugieser, we age this wine for longer, so it generally doesn’t reach the market until spring. Ördögárok brings minerality, vibrancy and depth to the wine, giving it an ageing potential of two-three years, while retaining the light, fresh character so typical of the variety.
This is our favourite way to introduce wine lovers to the world of Villány red wines, as the intense fruit aromas, moderate tannins and acidity, balanced body, and alcohol content of our Portugieser can demonstrate to all wine lovers what Villány reds are capable of, just as they did for Attila Gere back in the day.
Finally, here’s an insider’s tip from the winemakers’ of Villány for those who want to get the most out of this wine. Although this is a red wine, its lightness, freshness, and fruit-forward character make it worth chilling more than the typical red wine temperature. In the summer, you can even place it in an ice bucket for a short time to let the fresh, red berry flavors cool you down!
