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wine history

The local story of wine can be traced back to the Romans, who arrived in the first century of our era and, as all over Europe from the slopes of the northerly river Rhine to sunny Hispania, set out to civilise their new province: they built roads and towns, introduced their legal system, and planted their vines. They found favourable conditions in Pannonia (what is today Transdanubia, to the west of the Danube), where vinous traditions were carried on during the centuries of commotion that separated the mighty Roman Empire from the arrival of the Magyars in the 9th century. The founding of the Hungarian kingdom by Saint Stephen in 1000 A.D was followed by the spread of Christianity. The monks of the newly established monasteries disseminated the culture of wine, and the kingdom of Hungary became one of the centres of wine production for the next 900 years, providing wine to the countries and peoples of the Habsburg Empire and beyond.

The 20th centruy brought adversity and misfortune. As a prelude, at the end of the 19th century the phylloxera, the small plant louse brought in from the Americas, annihilated whole wine regions across Europe, including Hungary. Then World War I put an end to many centuries of Habsburg rule in Central Europe, creating a number of small states in its place, hose enmity strangled the economic basis of wine production. This was followed by the Communist takeover in 1948, from which time politics ruled supreme, and mass production was imposed on producers to quench the thirst of Big Brother. Huge quantities of low-quality wine were made with disastrous results ont he image and prestige of Hungarian wine, not that anyone cared.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the planned market economy, rebirth was spectacular. The new direction was spearheaded by the quality conscious smallholder winemakers of Villány, Szekszárd, Eger and Tokaj, who were soon followed by foreign and Hungarian investors instrumental in introducing state-of-the-art technology and know-how into winemaking. (In fact, private land ownership and home winemaking was a practice even under Communism . one reason why the transition was relatively quick, easy, and successful.)





It is often suggested that Hungary has always been a major wine country and the only source of its present ills was the Communist regime. This, at best, is only a half truth, born out of wishful thinking and readily embraced as a patriotic duty. The interdependence of quality, market and resources in the wine industry has always been a constant among different cultural and historical contexts. The fact is that Hungary never had real access to the affluent and trend-setting markets of Northern and Western Europe . With the possible exception of Tokaji, which, I suspect, was a legendary scarcity even in its heyday. There is no denying that the socialist market period had its fair share in exacerbating unhappy trends, but recent public policy has shown just as much myopia in tackling problems and helping recover a burgeoning industry. Today funding is scarce, legal regulations often misfire, land-ownership is fragmented, and outdated practices are persistent.

And still, all in all, there is reason for optimism. Modern technology belong to the stock-in-trade of many wine makers, and there is a willingness to learn. It is complemented with a strong and proud tradition, an undeniable potential, lots of wmerging talent, and a resolute will to make good wines. During the last dozen or so years, sweeping changes have transformed the wine-landscape out of recognitionand to an extent that would have been beyond one.s wildest dreams in 1989. Surely, the next dozen or so years will bring similarly profound changes, and the inexorable pursuit of quality will allow Hungary to regain its reputation as a major wine country.

 

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