Vida Bonsai Old-Vine Kadarka 2024

This is the one. Vida’s flagship Kadarka is made from vines that were planted in the 1920s — some of the oldest still in production in Hungary. Growing alongside fruit trees in the Lisztes Valley, these gnarly old vines produce a wine of effortless elegance, with lifted acidity, fine spice, and the signature bergamot note for which the wine is renowned.

Fermented and aged in large amphorae, the wine is silky and expressive, with a feather-light style and lots of depth and spice. International critics agree, with 96 points from James Suckling and a long history of top scores from Decanter. It is made with minimal intervention and is unfiltered.

About the Vida winery

Founded by Péter Vida in Szekszárd, Vida Winery is a family-run estate that blends tradition with gentle modern winemaking. With origins going back to the 1970s, their first bottled wine was released in 1990 as one of the first modern pioneers in the region.

Today, the next generation — led by Zsuzsanna Vida — carries on the work with a soft, elegant touch and a clear focus on local grapes like Kadarka and Kékfrankos, alongside the region’s signature Bikavér blends.

With vineyards spread across some of Szekszárd’s most distinctive sites, including the iconic Hidaspetre and Lisztes-völgy, Vida wines are shaped by red clay and loess soils, organic methods, and minimal intervention in the cellar.

The style? Pure, vibrant, and quietly sophisticated. The wines are always polished, never flashy. From fresh, zippy Kadarka to more layered, spicy Bikavér blends, the wines are unmistakably Szekszárd, and unmistakably Vida.

Producer information: Vida Péter EV, Napfény utca 27/a, 7100 Szekszárd, Hungary, https://vidaborbirtok.hu/