Sebestyén, 2017 Porkoláb-Völgyi Cabernet Franc, Szekszárd, Pannon, Hungary
Cab Franc du Jour #97
Established in 1998, Sebestyén Winery is run by the brother-and-sister team of Csaba and Csilla Sebestyén. They farm 12.5 hectares of vineyards in the Szekszárd wine district of southern Hungary, with 1.5 hectares of Cabernet Franc planted across three different vineyard sites. While Kékfrankos remains the estate’s most important variety, their Cabernet Franc plantings have shown considerable promise in a short time, particularly as a single-varietal expression.
Cabernet Franc in Hungary
Cabernet Franc may not be the first grape that comes to mind when thinking about Hungarian wine, but the variety is steadily building an interesting identity across multiple regions in the country. Many would be surprised to learn that even though 70% of Hungary’s wine production is white, the most planted grape in the country is the red-skinned Kékfrankos, known as Blaufränkisch in Austria and Lemberger in Germany, with around 8,000ha under vine. Cabernet Franc, by comparison, accounts for approximately 1,450ha, making it the fifth most planted red variety in the country, ahead of many both local and international varieties.
Szekszárd and Hungary’s Most Famous Red Blend
Much of the wine education focused on Hungary centres on the region of Tokaj, but there is considerably more to the country’s wine culture than that single appellation. Hungary has six principal wine regions divided into 22 wine districts, and today’s wine comes from the Szekszárd district, one of four districts, alongside Pécs, Tolna, and Villány, that make up the Pannon region in southern Hungary, one of the country’s most important areas for red wine production.
Szekszárd has a viticultural history stretching back to Roman times. Historically the most important variety here was Kadarka, which plays a supporting role in the style the region is best known for: Bikavér, a Kékfrankos-based red blend. Bikavér, translating to “bull’s blood,” is arguably Hungary’s most famous wine after Tokaji, and Szekszárd and Eger are the only two regions permitted to use the designation on their labels. Cabernet Franc plays a meaningful role even here, as one of the five principal varieties in Szekszárdi Bikavér.
Szekszárd: Its Growing Environment and Soils
Located at a latitude similar to that of northern Beaujolais, the Szekszárd wine district is a long, relatively narrow growing region encompassing a chain of 12 villages. It begins just north of the city of Szekszárd, roughly 280km southwest of Tokaj, and stretches about 25km south to the village of Batá. For those familiar with Villány, Szekszárd lies about 50km to the northeast. The region is bordered to the east by the Danube River and its flood plain, and to the west by the Tolna-Baranya Hills, part of the Transdanubian range.
The climate is broadly continental with Mediterranean influences, though the more northerly latitude means that while summers are warm and autumn rainfall is relatively low, temperatures cool significantly from mid-October onward. This can make ripening longer-season varieties like Kadarka and Cabernet Sauvignon challenging in some vintages, while Kékfrankos, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot ripen consistently year to year.
The topography adds further complexity to the climate picture. The majority of vineyards are found on the slopes of an intricate network of 98 interconnected, criss-crossing valleys and hills winding through the region. This mosaic of terrain means vineyards can face in virtually any direction, though the most favourable sites generally carry south, southeast, or southwest exposures to maximise sunshine and support ripening. Vineyards furthest east receive the strongest influence from the warm westerly winds off the Great Hungarian Plain, while moving west brings more of the cooler air from the Transdanubian mountains to the northwest. The shape of a vineyard, whether concave or convex, further influences how much of these competing influences it receives, as well as the intensity of sun exposure.
Elevations across the region range from around 150 to 250m above sea level, contributing to a meaningful diurnal temperature range in summer, with warmer days offset by cooler nights that help preserve natural acidity. The dominant soil throughout is loess, a wind-derived deposit, though its depth and composition vary by location, with varying proportions of limestone, sand, and iron-rich red clay depending on the site. With the latitude, elevation, exposure, and soil variability all playing a role, site selection in Szekszárd is particularly critical.
Porkoláb-Völgy
Today’s wine comes from a single-vineyard site, Porkoláb-Völgy, the word völgy meaning “valley” in Hungarian. It is worth noting that this is not a contiguous vineyard in the traditional sense, but rather a cadastral zone containing dozens of individual parcels within its defined borders. Located in the village of Szekszárd approximately 16km west of the Danube, the area spans roughly 1,500m from north to south and 600m from east to west, encompassing a range of exposures and elevations even within its boundaries.
The Sebestyén winery holds 2.65 hectares in Porkoláb-Völgy, of which 0.8ha are planted with Cabernet Franc on a southwest-facing slope at around 150m above sea level. The soils here are loess with limestone and iron-rich red clay, and the vines were planted in 2012. Csilla Sebestyén describes the site as something of a sweet spot for Cabernet Franc: not so far north or west as to be too cool, not so far east as to be considered a hot site, and the southwest exposure provides ample sunshine to help minimize pyrazines in the fruit.
In the Cellar
The 2017 wine comes from a selection of 0.6ha from the upper part of the slope. The fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed, with a portion also crushed. Fermentation takes place in open-top tanks with selected yeast, with daily punchdowns throughout both fermentation and post-fermentation maceration, and a total skin contact of approximately two weeks. The wine then ages for around 18 months in Hungarian oak barrels, approximately 40% of which is new.
Wine Details
Producer: Sebestyén Pincészet
Region: Pannon
Wine District: Szekszárd
Village: Szekszárd
Vineyard: Porkoláb-Völgy
Soil: Loess/löss, with limestone and red clay
Alcohol: 14.0%