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.

Koch: the home of the happy grapes

The Koch Winery has been dealing with viticulture and wine production for generations. It is located in Hajós region, Borota. The modern winery manages 140 ha, it produces 27 types of wine and sells 800.000 bottles in a year. In 2014 the Koch Winery won the Winery of the Year award. It has a wide range of outstanding wines including Cserszegi Fűszeres, Rosé, Cabernet Sauvignon and Kadarka. VinArt Winery is been created in Nagyharsány to process its grapes suitable in Villány.

Koch Winery has implemented his own vineyard techniques regarding canopy management in Hajós–Baja wine region. The owner and winemaker, Csaba Koch studied biology, he is an oneologist and agricultural engineer, and his main concern is the vine and its wellbeing. The main point of the special grape growing method is that after a srtict pruning and canes tying (sylvoz training system), buds are not hid, the free growing of the vine is not obstacled in any way. The result is a relatively big, airy canopy that grows according to the needs of the plant around the wires. The plant grows as much canopy as it needs for the optimal photosynthesis. A small proportion of the leaves is cut at the end of the summer. The result is high quality and low costs, since the vineyards saves a lot of manual work. The vine plant is happy, because it can absorb and use as much sunshine as possible.
Read more about Koch Winery

The magazine’s video about Koch Winery

(in Hungarian, but the pictures show how nice the estate is)