Koch Winery: No1 Grand Estate

The 14th annual selection organised by Bor és Piac trade magazine has just ended. In the first round readers could nominate their favourite estates, then the nominations were grouped according to the estate size, and the finalists have been visited and judged by a presigious jury (full of highly qualified professors of MATE University). The Most Beautiful Wine Estate in the Grand Estate category is Koch Winery in Hajós–Baja wine region.

Csaba Koch, owner of Koch Winery represents the 10th generation of a grape grower family. He bought the farm, where the estate building is located in 1996, it is a 100-year-old place now, certainly with every modern amenities. Though Csaba respects traditions, he is a man of the present with ambitions to constantly seek the better. “Our word changes dynamically, the climate changes rapidly so we have to adjust the grape varieties accordingly. And the consumers’s taste changes even faster, we have to watch the market” – says Csaba.
Read more about Koch Winery below.

See all category finalists here

Small estates

1. VáliBor, Péter Váli’s wine estate (Badacsony)
2. Fekete Wine Cellar (Szekszárd)
3. Fritsch Estate (Villány)

Medium estates

1. Haraszthy Winery (Etyek-Buda)
2. Etyeki Kúria (Etyek-Buda)
   and Villa Tolnay (Badacsony)
   (They both received the same score.)

Grand estates

1. Koch Winery (Hajós-Baja)
2. Hilltop (Neszmély)
3. Oremus (Tokaj)

Time travel at Koch

The winery has 8 guest rooms, 7 of them are stylish, modern rooms with all the amenities, but one of them is a unique place: the “cooper’s flat” is suite furnished with original pieces from the 19th – early 20th century. You can experience the way our ancestors used to live, you can touch antique tables, chairs, utensils, even clothes, which tell countless stories.
Also, we highly recommend to try the traditional plates from the stove oven. The duck or knuckle is roasted together with potatoes and vegetables, the flavours are unforgettable.

Organic wine from Koch Winery

Castellum is a resistant grape with mostly “blue blood”: it has 50% Rhine Riesling among its ancestors. Koch Castellum is an organic white wine from “happy grape” – a concept developed by Csaba Koch, the owner of the estate.

Mostly noble varieties

Castellum – or Pannonia as it is also called – a grape created by multiple crossings in Serbia by Petar Cindrić, Nada Korać and Vladimir Kovač. As Dr. Petar Cindrić explained it on Agroforum.hu, only 6.25% of the genetic material of the variety comes from North American grapes (Vitis rupestris, Vitis berlandieri, Vitis labrusca, Vitis lincecumii) – this part gives the resistancy against fungal diseases. More than 90% comes from “noble”, Vitis vinifera: 50% Rhine Riesling, 12.5% Tramini and Bouvier and 15.6% from 8 different varieties (Itália, Afuz Ali, Chasselas, Clairette, Oeilade, Aramon, Alicante Boushet and an unknown variety).

To see the family tree of the tree, click here.

The taste of nature

“With conscious canopy management it took us four years of chemical-free cultivation to find the taste of nature in this wine.” According to the happy grape concept the vines are not forced into wires, they are allowed to grow as they want to use as much sunshine as possible. The wine is certified organic by Biokontroll Hungaria Ltd, which means that at Koch they use only sulphur, copper, water glass (sodium silicate), stone powders, plant extracts. They also use matured cow manure and green manure from papilionaceous flowers.

More about the happy grape concept on IWC Canopy website written by Chris Boiling
More about Koch Winery

Csaba Koch, the new president of Hungarian Wine Academy

The father of the “Happy Grape” concept, a devoted professional with a line of organic wines, Winemaker of the Year (2019), Winery of the Year (2014) and The Best European Winery (2019) by CEUCO. Countless gold medals and always new projects – the most recent is a fresh fruit juice product line. This is Csaba Koch, who has become the new president of the 30 year old Hungarian Wine Academy.

CEUCO (European Oenogastronomic Brotherhoods Council) held its 2019 award ceremony during the 17th Congress of the trade association in Portugal. Awards are given in several categories, like Best European Hotel restaurant (El Principe, Italy) or Best Gastronomy Journalist (Paulo Salvador, Portugal). The Best European Winery award has been given to three wineries this year: Koch Winery (Hungary), Bodega Cooperativa Vinícola Requenense (Spain), Cavit Winery (Italy). The association appreciates wineries taking care of national traditions. Csaba Koch, the owner has clear vision regarding grape growing, wine making and wine tourism as well. His invention of viticulture, the so called „happy grape” works well, his wines has received countless prizes, plus his estate is a traditional rural guest house with delicious, rustic feasts and welcoming rooms. A must-see place with lovely wines from the aromatic white varieties to the full bodied, aged red wines.

More about Koch Winery