Konyári: well-made honest wines

The Konyári winery was founded in 2003 by János Konyári on the southern shore of Lake Balaton. The building itself is worth the trip, carved into a wall of loess, and it was one of the highlights of the Hungarian wine scene when it opened, with modern technology and a well-planned gravity-flow system for gentle winemaking. It still runs beautifully, though the estate is slowly reaching its limits as the vineyards have grown from an original 20 hectares to 38.

In the middle of the 2000s, Konyári redefined winemaking on the south shore of Balaton and brought the region’s red wines into the conversation, an area until then dominated by Villány, Szekszárd and Eger. From whites through rosé to red, from the entry range to the top bottlings, Konyári put serious quality in the glass. János was named Hungary’s Winemaker of the Year in 2008 and went on to find success abroad.

Step by step, János’s son Dániel learned the craft. Talented and well-travelled, he refined the family style and raised the quality further through his willingness to experiment with new techniques and styles. Dániel has since taken over from his father and is now at the helm. The working relationship between the two is turbulent and productive, with winemaking decisions often made after passionate arguments between father and son. One thing is certain: the results prove them right.

Dániel’s time in Bordeaux was a formative experience. He favours reds from classic grape varieties, and he has little interest in playing the showman or picking his own wines apart. He says he simply likes making good wine, the best he can under the conditions of the year, and hopes plenty of people enjoy it. He puts his faith in good work and stays free of ideology.

The vintages tell the same story of honest work. 2014 was a hard year across the country: heavy rain made it a real struggle to protect the grapes, and Dániel bottled no premium wines at all, so even the estate’s base wines carry fruit that would normally go into its top cuvées. 2015 was chaotic in a different way, a warm Mediterranean summer with little rain and some very hot days. The harvest came unusually early to avoid overripeness and hold on to good acidity, and the 2015 Konyári wines came out round, warm and velvety.

Honest wines from a family that argues its way to the right answer.