Thirty Harvests: A Day at Gróf Degenfeld
The route led through Slovakia, because the GPS measured it as the shorter one. Whether it really was shorter I still can't confirm – that it was adventurous and beautiful, all the more so. Vienna–Tarcal, for the first time – and by motorcycle.
Years ago I made it to the Tokaj wine region almost every summer; it was the standing destination. Yet the Degenfeld estate always slipped past me. It would have been worth following along for at least the last fifteen years – now that I've been there, I understand how much has happened here in that time.
The story reaches back more than a century and a half. The Degenfeld family already played an important role in Tokaj-Hegyalja in the 1800s: as a landowner, Count Imre Degenfeld was, in 1857, among those who set out to regulate the quality of Tokaj wines and raise their standard. After the Second World War the family lost its estates and built a new life in Germany. A few decades later, Count Sándor Degenfeld returned to his roots: in 1994 he bought vineyards in Tarcal again at auction, and together with his daughter, Countess Marie Degenfeld, and his son-in-law, Dr. Thomas Lindner, set about rebuilding the derelict park and buildings. The first harvest came in 1996. Since then the estate has tended 35 hectares of vineyards on the border of Mád and Tarcal – with historic vineyard sites such as Terézia and Zomborka – and, since 2009, entirely under organic cultivation. The castle now welcomes its guests as a four-star hotel.
Tarcal is a small village; on a weekday evening not much happens – and yet the place is full of treasures. Interesting spots, good wines, warm locals.
The occasion for my visit was the reception marking the 30th anniversary. Our hosts were Countess Marie Degenfeld and estate director Máté Tóth, though really almost the entire team of the estate was there with us for the celebration.
After a coffee, our path led to the chapel on the Terézia hill. From there the whole region opened up to view. The weather wasn't perfect, but the mood and the sparkling wine were all the more so. It was a dry Furmint sparkling, a truly special bottling – and what makes it more special still is the label. It was drawn by the children of the Klapka György primary school in Tarcal, a different child's drawing on every bottle. The estate tied its thirtieth year to a charity drive: so that a playground could be built in the school's yard.
From the chapel we went down to the neighbouring Terézia vineyard. It was good to look around there and study up close the vines from which one of our favourite Hárslevelűs comes. But the Degenfeld team didn't stop at the surprises here either: they had prepared young vines for us guests to plant. On the spot, I put in three or four. So in a few years there will also be a wine on our shelves whose vines I helped nurse myself.
After that we were treated to a wonderful lunch, at which we could taste the estate's finest bottlings – among them special Aszús and an Eszencia. The menu was put together by chef Csaba Latorcai; a very thoughtfully composed sequence, and I offer my congratulations even in hindsight. After the meal the tombola was drawn, its proceeds again going to the children. One of the winning bottles is now to be found in our shop as well – bringing it home by motorcycle was, I admit, rather amusing, but at least there's a story to go with it.
They had saved one more surprise: we placed a time capsule inside a barrel. The local cooper sealed the barrel on the spot, and the estate director and the head winemaker buried it with real manual labour – for the future. From there we went into the cellar, where modern technology meets the traditions and values of the past.
From there we went into the cellar. The building was raised in 1873 by royal decree as a state viticulture school: after the phylloxera crisis the region needed cellar masters, and this is where they were trained. Those spacious cellars are still standing, and the winery uses them to this day. Above them, where the old press house once stood, are the offices – the major extension of 1996 was built to the plans of Ferenc Salamin, a student of Imre Makovecz, while grape processing and bottling got a new wing.
The cellar walls are covered in a thick, velvety layer: the noble cellar mould, the hallmark of Tokaj's cellars. It feeds on the alcohol and esters evaporating from the barrels and, in return, keeps the cellar's humidity and temperature steady. That calm, unchanging climate is exactly what Aszú and Szamorodni need to mature over years – so the mould on the wall is part of what ends up in our glass. That doubleness runs through the whole building: modern technology meets the traditions and values of the past.
I had the chance to exchange a few words with the Countess, and a photo was taken too – in front of a painting depicting Sissi, the Empress. As I was leaving, I found myself reflecting in the hotel courtyard: when I had walked in, I had the feeling of arriving on a strange little island, an island of calm. The atmosphere enchants you and carries you along. I'm sure we'll stay many more times as guests in this wonderful castle hotel.
Having met the people who work here, I understand even better why it feels so good to open a bottle of Degenfeld. Their professionalism, their warmth, their care go, in a way, into the bottle – and anywhere in the world where we open it, that lands in our glass like a little Eszencia.
In autumn we'll carry the story on here in Vienna too, with a tasting marking the 30th anniversary – with estate director Máté Tóth.
