Bence Szilágyi makes wine in Barnag, a small village in western Hungary close to Lake Balaton. What began as an experiment of 400 bottles in a cellar dug into limestone bedrock beneath his family home has slowly developed, and he now makes wine in a converted, 200-year-old stone barn. Bence remains a relatively small producer, working with around 5 hectares of grapes, half from vineyards he rents and farms himself while the other half are purchased from a local grower; an ongoing relationship which gives Bence a fuller understanding of the grapes and vineyards. Buying land in this area is almost impossible, with real estate prices driven up by Lake Balaton’s popularity as a tourist destination. Varieties include Riesling, Furmint, Kékfrankos (known as Blaufränkisch in Austria and Lemberger in Germany), Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Bence takes a no-till approach unusual for the region, relying on naturally occurring flora as cover crop.
Dzsúz has an ongoing place among Bence’s wines and although it varies year to year, the concept remains the same: a fresh and fruit-forward red wine. The grapes for the 2024 vintage came from the cooler Monoszló area; an early harvest of young Kékfrankos that were fermented mostly as whole bunches with a small amount direct pressed, balanced by riper fruit from a warmer Cabernet Franc vineyard around 20 km east in Aszófő, at the foot of the Tihany peninsula. The different vineyards offer a mix of terroir; micro-climates influenced by Lake Balaton and by varying elevations, and soils ranging from predominantly limestone to volcanic rock. A vibrant wine with low tannins and high energy, Dzsúz ’24 is lightly spicy with redcurrants, blackcurrants and rosehip. Great paired with spicy pepperoni pizza and best enjoyed slightly chilled.