Eger Wines

Located in northeastern Hungary, the region has been making wines since the 11th century. Its wine making tradition has had its highs and lows, During the Communist period (1948-1989), state-owned wine conglomerates planted new vineyards on low-lying (and lower quality) sites that could be harvested by machines. The result was mediocre wines in mass quantities. 

From 1990, the state-owned cooperatives were privatized and this unleashed a revival of quality focused family wineries, a growing number of which are putting out excellent wines, both reds and whites.

Eger is one of the coolest wine regions in Hungary. Other wine-growing areas that occupy the same latitude as Eger (47.9°), Chablis for example, tend to make white wines only because in most years the weather is too cold for red grapes to ripen. In Eger, the Bükk Mountains protect the vineyards from the cold winds, creating a warmer microclimate (this is becoming less relevant these days with a warming climate).