📍 Pannonhalma

Pannonhalma is a small wine district in north-western Hungary, in Győr-Moson-Sopron county. It is part of the Northern Transdanubia wine region. The vineyards lie on hills around the town of Pannonhalma, on about 640 hectares. The soils are loam, loess and brown forest soil with sandy patches.

The heart of the district is the Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey. It was founded in 996 by Prince Géza and is the first Hungarian Benedictine monastery. The abbey with its surroundings was added to the UNESCO list in 1996. Viticulture here is closely tied to the monks: in the abbey's founding charter, grapes are mentioned among products subject to tithe, the first written mention of Hungarian viticulture.

Today mostly white grapes are grown: Olaszrizling (Welschriesling) and Rhine Riesling became the basis of the district after the phylloxera epidemic. The whites come out fresh with good acidity. The district is small but expressive.

According to a register of about 1237, in the 90 villages belonging to the abbey, 256 families grew grapes, 173 of them in villages of the Pannonhalma hills. The monastery stands on a hill 282 metres high.