The beginning

The nearby excavations give evidence of viticulture in the Roman era at the wine-region, and there are also signs that even the ancient Celts who lived in the territory were employed in wine-production popularised by the Greeks. The Hungarian viticulture gaining shape after the Hungarian Conquest (896) had several roots and was flourishing unbroken for centuries. The Serbians arriving after the Turkish occupation introduced Kadarka, and the Germans settling at later times – in addition to their highly developed agricultural skills and work discipline – brought Kékoportó and Kékfrankos grapes with themselves, thus giving a new impetus to wine production in Villány. The expert and up-to-date agriculture emerging on the manors of the Savoyai, Albrecht, Batthyány, and later the Montenuovo families, raised wine-production to a master level in this region. As a result, Villány had become an internationally recognised wine-region by the 1870s. The wines grown there were popular even outside Europe, in North and South America, as well.

The great turn

The predecessor of Csányi Winery, the Chateau Teleki Winery was founded by Zsigmond Teleki in 1881. The name of the imperial and royal purveyor has become wide-known all over Europe at the time of the phylloxera plague – due to his experimental selection of rootstock resistant to phylloxera. Phylloxera (i.e. grape-louse) has destroyed most of the vineyards in Europe, but a real remedy was not found for a long time. Teleki was the first one to experimentally find rootstock species resistant to the pest even in calcic soils, on his own vineyards. His work was carried on by his sons, Andor (Andrew) and Sándor (Alexander). Thanks to their innovative efforts the dream of the wine-makers came true: the serious epidemic was combated. The Chateau Teleki Winery later gained significant recognition, in addition to viticulture, oenology and grape genetics research and breeding, for viticulture and oenology expert training as well.

Villány – the motherland of Hungarian red wine

The southernmost wine-region of Hungary, and at the same time, the one with the best natural characteristics, is that of Villány, which lies at the same degree of latitude as the northern part of the Bordeaux wine-region. Its climate is also unique with respect to wine-growing, since the ridge of the Villány-hills block the unfriendly cold currents coming from North, and in the meanwhile the warmth of the southern slopes protected from the other side is strengthened by the tepid air coming from the region of the Mediterranean Sea. Lucky is the grape that is rounding out here! The proximity of the River Dráva brings morning dew on the grape leaves, thus the vineyards are fresh and strong even on hot summer days. The morning dew has a positive effect on grape flowering as well, since it attracts flying insects that help to pollinate the vineyards.

The limestone of the hill – which is covered, at some places by several meters thick, rich, fertile Aeolian soil – absorbs heat during the day to reflect it to the clusters on colder nights. The chalk cliffs of the Szársomlyó hill act as a huge “tile stove”. The annual precipitation is near 700 mm, the annual number of sunny hours reaches 2100 hours; the mean temperature of the vegetation period is 17.5 °C, which is the highest value in Hungary. The effect of geo-thermal heat cannot be neglected either. It keeps the roots of the grape warm from below, which is also a unique feature of this region. As a result, there are more medicinal thermal springs in the Villány hills than, for example, in the nearby bath of international fame, Harkány.
The sub-Mediterranean micro-climate also rich in light brings excellent grape bearing flavorous and fiery wine onto the vine-stock.

Lanes - Strictly controlled vineyards

Cultivation is a determining factor in the quality of the grape harvested and the wine produced. The base of outstanding wines can only be healthy, carefully cultivated grapes. The vineyards of the Csányi Winery are located in the best lanes of the Villány wine region; the most significant of them are Kopár, Csillagvölgy and Hársos. The total area of our land exceeds 340 hectares. To achieve an ever higher quality level we chose such a cultivation method and production technology, even for the continuous plantations, through which we can achieve the best quality produce by utilising the characteristics of the soil and the climatic zone. We determine the amount of grape to be grown by taking into consideration the characteristics of the land, the climate and the grape type, utilising the quality-enhancing effect of yield restriction.