Malatinszky Winery – Villány Region

Csaba Malatinszky started his career in wine as a sommelier, working in several of Budapest’s top restaurants in the 1990s. He founded his winery in 1997 and has been fully organic since 1999 (certified organic in 2009). Like the entire Villány region, Malatinszky has been influenced and inspired by Bordeaux—which Villány shares its major red grape varietals with, and has traveled to France many times. He started planting Cabernet Franc—the region’s flagship variety, in 2001.

Cabernet Franc has always been present in Villány, he told us, but people didn’t know the difference between Cab Franc and Cab Sauvignon. Malatinszky’s portfolio of older vintages is one of the things that makes his cellar notable. “From the beginning I had the idea that I would sell older wines, not just sell everything as soon as it was made.” He grows Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rhine Riesling, Muscat Ottonel, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, and produces 60 to 80,000 bottles per year.

His winery is an environmentally conscious building, and was carefully planned for his focus on aging in small barrels. His wines are spontaneously fermented with native yeasts, and they are acclaimed for their complexity and elegance.