Do you know who the father of modern Californian viticulture is? There is a saying about Hungarians: “How do you recognize a Hungarian? He enters a revolving door behind you, but leaves ahead of you.” Talented Hungarian people are everywhere, and they seem to adapt to foreign countries easily. Well, you are right, the person who turned a land of some drunkard grapegrowers into a flourishing wine country was a Hungarian man, Ágoston Haraszthy. His life is full adventures, he founded towns, he was a sheriff, operated a steamboat on the Mississippi, took 300 grape varieties to America, planted sugar cane in Nicaragua – and was killed tragically by an alligator. The largest winery of Etyek wine region is named after this Hungarian hero, and this summer a set of three wines has been released dedicated to Haraszthy’s fascinating life story. ‘Pioneer’ takes us to an early stage of his life, when he left Hungary for the first time, spent 40 days on a ship and upon arrival he founded the oldest incorporated village in Wisconsin, Haraszthy Town. The wine is made of Irsai Olivér, an indigenous aromatic grape of Hungary. Refreshing, juicy, cheerful summer wine at cheerful price (around 4 euros in retail).
The restaurant of Haraszthy Winery called Matador is open again, awaits its guests at weekends.