Gizella Winery
Tokaj Region
Gizella Winery is named after winemaker/owner László Szilágyi’s grandmother. Laszló (Laci) took the helms of the family winery in 2005, and has really focused on making clean and elegant wines, which are taught after in Hungary. Gizella’s estate is 19 hectares, spread among 12 vineyards in Tarcal, Bodrogkeresztúr, and Mád. He has also been working to reconstruct some of his old terraced vineyards, like the Szil-Völgy vineyard (which was first mentioned in historical documents in 1612). Gizella focuses on Tokaj’s traditional grape varieties, planting mainly Furmint (62 percent), Hárslevelű (31 percent), and Sárgamuskotály (seven percent). Gizella is one of Tokaj’s most dynamic and exciting wineries, with distinctive wines which are always a pleasure to taste.
Gizella Furmint/ Hárslevelű, 2019
The Gizella Winery is located at the edge of the Tokaj town. László Szilágyi, owner and winemaker, produces extraordinary dry and sweet Tokaji wines, and he is a long-time Taste Hungary favorite, so we are thrilled to bring his wines to the US! His dry wines are known for being crystal clean, with bright acidity, and well-defined, elegant aromatics. In Tokaj, Furmint tends to grab all of the attention from Hárslevelű. But Szilágyi is a Hárslevelű aficionado and uses it as raw material for both blends and single-vineyard wines. This wine, as well as the winery, is named after László’s grandmother: Gizella. It is a blend of 65 percent Furmint and 35 percent Hárslevelű, and can be considered as his Estate Wine (the wine that defines the style of the winery). The grapes were hand-harvested from eight different vineyards between September 23rd and October 14th, producing a range of different base wines for Szilágyi to use in the blend. The 2019 vintage offered the perfect grapes to create Szilágyi’s dream blend: a low-alcohol, crisp and easy-to-drink wine. That is exactly how this wine turned out. It is clean and crisp, with an elegant nose of white flowers and pear. Its soft—but structured—palate shows the classical dry Tokaj style: a crisp acidity balanced by the lightest touch of sweetness, minerality, and freshness. Just as we like it!
Gizella, Barát Hárslevelű, 2019
The Barát single-vineyard wine has been produced since the Gizella Winery was established in 2006, making this the 13th vintage of this wine. The Barát vineyard is located in the town of Tarcal, on the slopes of the Tokaj Hill. The vineyard has loess topsoil over volcanic soil, producing wines that have a softer minerality than those from the iron-rich rhyolite soils of the Mád basin. Grapes for this wine were picked on two dates—September 16th and October 8th—so that there would be two different styles of wines winemaker László Szilágyi to blend: a fruity, earlier-harvested, crispier wine and a richer and more intense wine. This wine is made from 100 percent Hárslevelű, without any oak ageing. It was fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks for just four months before bottling, keeping all of the wonderful freshness and honey-suckle, floral aromas that this variety gives. It is delicate and elegant on the nose, with white flowers and pear aromas. It has a juicy acidity balanced by 6.8 grams of residual sugar. Hárslevelű typically produces softer wines with a more elegant nose than Furmint. This wine is a great example of why this is one of Hungary’s top white varieties.
Gizella, Szent Tamás Hárslevelű, 2019
Is there a perfect dry Tokaj wine? We are not sure, but this one might be very close! This is a 100 percent Hárslevelű wine coming from one of the Tokaj region’s most prized vineyards: the mighty Szent Tamás (Saint Thomas) located in the Mád Basin. The Mád basin is located around the small village of Mád, just behind the Tokaj hill to the north-west. It’s famous for having a red, very strong, iron-rich volcanic soil. Historians say there are a few dozen extinct-volcanoes located within the Mád basin, making it a very complex and exciting region for Tokaj lovers. Of all the Mád basin’s (and Tokaj region’s) vineyards, the Szent Tamás is regarded as one of the best. It was classified as a “Grand Cru” (the best) site back in the 1700s. Grapes for this wine were hand-harvested, and only three barrels of it were produced (1,063 bottles). One of the three barrels was new, and the other two were second and third use Hungarian barrels, made by the nearby Trust cooperage. The wine was barrel-aged for nine months, with some battonage (lees stirring) happening during its ageing. This wine has an intense nose, full of ripe citrus, quince, and flint. Its explosive palate has delicious flavors of créme brulée, Williams pear, and lemon preserves. Everything about this wine is intense—its acidity, flavors, and alcohol—but it all seems in perfect balance. This wine is so good that after having one sip, it’s hard to wait until the other one.
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