Hungarian Wine Dictionary

All the important Hungarian wine words and phrases explained. Missing a word? Don’t understand a phrase on your wine bottle? Let us know!

• Aszú – Natural sweet wine from Tokaj. One of the world’s best sweet wines, with hundreds of years of tradition. Every aszú has a number of puttonyos (starting three up to six) showing us the level of sweetness. Read our article about Aszú >>>

 

• Badacsony – A volcanic mountain on the north side of Lake Balaton, famous for white wines with high minerality

 

• Balaton – Hungary’s largest lake and a picturesque wine growing area including five wine regions around the lake

 

• Bikavér – literally means “Bull’s Blood”, it is a classic red blend usually based on the kékfrankos grape variety and made only in the Eger and Szekszárd regions. Done well, Egri bikavér (“from Eger”) is fruity, elegant and refined, while Szekszárdi bikavér (“from Szekszárd”) is more robust and rich in nature. Read our article about Bikavér >>>

 

• birtok – estate

 

• bor – wine!

 

• borász – winemaker

 

• borászat – winery

 

• dűlő – vineyard; a specific selection of grapes

 

• édes – sweet

 

• Eger – a wine region in the North-East of Hungary

 

• Egészségedre! – cheers! (Yes, really. Something like “eh-GAE-SHAY-ged-rae”)

 

• Etyek – a wine region close to Budapest famous for its crisp whites and for giving the zesty base for making the finest sparkling wines of the country

 

• fehér – white

 

• félédes – semi-sweet

 

• félszáraz – off-dry

 

• fröccs – wine spritzer (Weinschorle); fröccs comes in many different varieties and is one of Hungary’s most common drinks. Read our article about fröccs >>>

 

• Furmint – one of the most complex and valuable white grape varieties of Hungary

 

• gyöngyözőbor/habzóbor – slightly sparkling wine (Perlwein/Schaumwein)

 

• Hárslevelű – a round and juicy white grape variety

 

• hordó – barrel

 

• Irsai Olivér – a white grape variety

 

• Kadarka – a red grape variety

 

• Kékfrankos – a red grape variety, internationally known as Blaufränkisch

 

• Muskotály – a white grape variety

 

• Muzsla – a wine region in Slovakia with many ethnic Hungarian winemakers

 

• Olaszrizling – Hungary’s most widely-planted white grape variety

 

• Oportó – the old name of Portugieser, a red grape variety

 

• Pannonhalma – a wine region in the North of Hungary

 

• pezsgő – sparkling wine

 

• pince – cellar

 

• puttony – a traditional basket to collect grapes in; today, it is the term used to describe the sweetness of Tokaji aszú wines (3, 4, 5 or 6 puttonyos)

 

• Siller – a wine category. It’s basically like a darker colored rosé because the grape was left longer on it’s skin (24-48 hours). Originally with Swabian roots, from Baden-Württemberg. Drink it cold!

 

• Somló – the second-smallest wine region of Hungary on the site of an extinct volcano

 

• Sopron – a wine region on the border of Austria

 

• Szamorodni – the most ancient wine category from Tokaj. Its two types are dry and sweet. Szamorodni contains grapes with noble rot, like Aszú, but is less concentrated, fresher and aged for a shorter period of time. Read our article about szamorodni >>>

 

• száraz – dry

 

• szőlő – grape

 

• Szekszárd – a wine region in the South of Hungary

 

• Tokaj – Hungary’s most famous wine region in the North-East of Hungary

 

• Villány – a mainly red wine region in the South of Hungary

 

• vörös – red -i – indicates “from”, i.e. Tokaj – Tokaji, Eger – Egri, etc.