The Szentvér vineyard is located in the middle of the Tokaj wine region, on the southern side of the mountain range between Erdőbénye and Tolcsva. Its ideal elevation and aspect mean that winter and early spring frosts do not damage the grapes. The winery reorganised the vineyard in 2003, planting around 5,000 vines per hectare. The vineyard soils are red clay with a high iron content mixed with riolite tuff and bound loam, which helps to retain water even in the drier summer months. Due to the mineral structure of the soil and the excellent exposure, the wine produced from this vineyard has a very aromatic, lime-flowery bouquet and a pleasant acidity.
Vineyard area: 12,5 hectares
Grape varieties: Hárslevelű
History:
The vineyard has historical and medieval origins and was an integral part of the former Kútpatka vineyard. The vineyard of the parish of Tolcsva, located in Kútpatka, became the property of the Protestants after the spread of the Reformation in the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in 1545 until 1663. Since the then landlords Zsófia Báthory (1629-1680), the widow of the Transylvanian prince György II Rákóczi (1621-1660), and Ferenc I Rákóczi (1642-1676), the prince of Transylvania, converted to Roman Catholicism under the influence of Jesuit and Pauline monks, the Reformed preachers’ vineyards in the Tokaj-Hegyalja were confiscated during the Counter-Reformation. Thus, in 1663, the vineyards of the Tolcsva prebend were given to the reorganised Catholic parish of Kútpatka. It was only from the second half of the 17th century that the Szentvér vineyard began to separate from its original territory, Kútpatka, and the church property passed into the possession of the Bónis family of Tolcsva, who lost and then regained it after the Wesselényi conspiracy. In his private diary, Count András Szirmay, the later owner of „Kutpatkan leveo Szentuér neveu szeoleo” (original spelling), noted that grapes for dry wine (vinum ordinarium) were always harvested in Szentvér, which is situated in Kútpatka. In the 18th century, in addition to the Szirmay family, the Dessewffy and Waldbott families also became owners of Szentvér through marriage and family ties. All in all, the vineyards and later the vineyards of Szentvér were almost exclusively held by the nobility until World War II.