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Our Winery

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Who we are?

The Grand Tokaj Winery, once a state-owned company, is now a professional and market-oriented winery owned by the Tokaj-Hegyalja University Foundation. It is one of the most important Hungarian wineries and the largest winery in the historic Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is the guardian and developer of the Hungarian, especially the Tokaj tradition. Alongside the preservation of the traditions of the Tokaj-Hegyalja Region, innovative technologies and contemporary winemaking techniques that play a key role in our thinking and operations. Our aim is to combine centuries-old tradition with the most modern viticultural and winemaking practices adopted today, in order to achieve the highest quality and greatest customer satisfaction. The core activity of our winery is primarily the production and sale of quality wine, as well as the production and purchase of grapes for the production. As the successor of Tokaj Kereskedőház Zrt., Grand Tokaj Winery embarked on a complete technological and professional renewal in 2013, which involved a shift from mass production to quality winemaking and the production of premium quality wines. This has been achieved by a professional viticultural and winemaking team, under the professional leadership of Károly Áts, combining modern winemaking technologies that meet 21st century needs with traditional equipment in a perfectly hygienic and well-equipped winery. The continuous improvement of wine quality and the gradual modernisation of the brand image are all necessary steps to ensure that our winery is well positioned in the eyes of both domestic and international customers and merchants, and that our wines regain their rightful place in the international market of quality wines.
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Why do we work?

The winery, which currently has 67 hectares of vineyards, is a key player in the wine region, accounting for around 35% of the total wine production in the area. As an integrator of the region, we purchase controlled quality grapes from 600-700 hectares of strictly controlled vineyards each year, in close collaboration with hundreds of winemakers. From grapes grown on our own land and purchased from our long-term, trusted partners, we aim to produce wines of the highest quality and great taste, in line with our knowledge and technology. Our 66,000 hectolitre capacity tank hall, inaugurated in 2014, provides a solid foundation for this. But this technological background is worth nothing without a skilled winemaking team and a strict hygiene policy. Our modern winery in Tolcsva is complemented by a barrel-ageing facility in the nearby Szegi Cellar's 5.5 km long cellar system, where noble sweet wines are left to mature for 1-3 years after fermentation. In line with our belief that the foundations of quality winemaking lie in the pursuit of perfection in the vineyard, we have also made significant improvements in vineyard management in recent years. Among other things, we have developed a vineyard monitoring system, carried out a survey of the potential and condition of the vineyards, and created a geographical information system to support decision making, allowing us to model and plan the purchase of grapes in advance.

Károly Áts, our chief winemaker

The new quality wines of Grand Tokaj Winery come from the cellars of our head winemaker Károly Áts and his team. Winner of the Wine Producer of the Year award in 2012, Károly Áts, a winemaker known for his 100-point Essence, is responsible for the production of every bottle of wine released under the Grand Tokaj label.

According to Károly Áts, the personality of the winemaker always shines through in the wine. So his wines radiate happiness and vitality. He always thinks optimistically, because he believes that if he did not, the joy would not “flow” into the wine, because only a happy winemaker can make good wine. He considers himself a contented man, because his hobby is also his job. As a native of the Tokaj-Hegyalja, grapes and wine have always been present in his life through his father. His aim is to give back the gifts of nature through his wines and to bring joy to his consumers.

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The new quality wines of Grand Tokaj Winery come from the cellars of our head winemaker Károly Áts and his team. Winner of the Wine Producer of the Year award in 2012, Károly Áts, a winemaker known for his 100-point Essence, is responsible for the production of every bottle of wine released under the Grand Tokaj label.

According to Károly Áts, the personality of the winemaker always shines through in the wine. So his wines radiate happiness and vitality. He always thinks optimistically, because he believes that if he did not, the joy would not “flow” into the wine, because only a happy winemaker can make good wine. He considers himself a contented man, because his hobby is also his job. As a native of the Tokaj-Hegyalja, grapes and wine have always been present in his life through his father. His aim is to give back the gifts of nature through his wines and to bring joy to his consumers.

“I was born in a wine region that is, I think, a miracle. For me, it is my home. I was born into a family where my father and mother raised me to respect and love nature. My father always said, son, you just always be yourself, not someone else. I don’t want to be someone else. I always want to be the Fake Karcsi that he raised me to be.”

For our chief winemaker, there was never any question as to where he would continue his career. You can make wine elsewhere, of course, but his real ambition has always been to show his team what Tokaj is capable of, both in terms of dry wines and naturally sweet wines.

Our Vineyards

Role as an integrator

Grand Tokaj is a prominent winery in the wine region, not only in terms of the amount of raw material it produces, but also in its role as an integrator in the region. It accounts for around 35% of the region’s total wine production. With 67 hectares of its own vineyards, the winery buys controlled quality grapes from small producers under contract, from 500 to 800 hectares of controlled quality grapes depending on the vintage, and from controlled quality grapes at harvest, based on long-term partnerships.

Committed to producing quality wine, the winery aims to support local farmers. Long-term relationships and quality harvests are essential not only for the farmers, but also for the winery, as the resulting wines enhance the reputation of the wine region.

The winery has also provided assistance in the form of consulting services: a four-volume vineyard brochure with tips on how to achieve high quality yields has been produced and made available to the producers, and the contracted partners are also helped to make the best use of the land. The winery is able to advise producers on production targets for a given area using a specific geographical information system developed during the site potential assessment.

Cellar Visit

Szegi Cellar

The Grand Tokaj Winery’s production facility in Tolcsva is complemented by the Szegi Cellar, the largest ageing cellar in the Tokaj wine region and in Central and Eastern Europe. The Hatalos Hill cellar system, built in the 1960s from medieval mines, is located on the border of Szegi and Szegilong. The five-and-a-half kilometer, a two-storey cellar system connects four underground quarries, providing perfect conditions for barrel ageing and storage of noble sweet wines. Its constant temperature, humidity and perfect stability make it ideal for ageing Aszú and Szamorodni in barrels. The cellar has a capacity of several thousand barrels.

One of its largest separate units is the Tarsovits Hall, a former mine with a five-barrel layout. On the upper level of the cellar, six parallel branches branching off from the main passageway connecting the quarries, have been created to store the museum wines. The wines stored here are an exceptional national treasure from the 1940s, selected from the best vintages. Depending on the number of visitors to the cellar, three tasting rooms are available for guests, so that visitors to the Szegi Cellar can get to know not only the unique cellar system, but also our wines.

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OPENING HOURS

Monday – Thursday: 12:00-16:00

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: closed

For information about the opening hours of Szegi Cellar, please call +36 70 430 9937

Wine Chapel

An octagonal shaped room with a diameter of 5 meters, which can accommodate 18 people. Its design is based on the Sub Rosa room in Sárospatak Castle.

Knight Hall

A rectangular room with a floor area of 8 x 5 m, which can comfortably seat 35 people.

Grand Hall

A rectangular room with dimensions of 5,5 x 19 m. It is the largest room with a capacity to accommodate

Management

To read more about Grand Tokaj’s role as an integrator, click on the link

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