📍 Tolna

Tolna is a small wine district in southern Hungary, in Tolna County, on hills west of the Danube. It belongs to the Pannon wine region, the warmest in the country. The hills are made of loess and clay, which hold moisture well. Summers are warm and autumn is long, which lets the grapes ripen unhurriedly.

Tolna makes red and white wines, more often light and fruity. Red grapes are grown, notably Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos in Hungarian), and white Chardonnay, as well as Riesling and other whites. Red wines are usually soft with light tannins and a scent of red berries, while whites are fresh and fruity.

Next to Tolna lies Szekszárd, a neighbouring district in the same county with a better-known red wine. Tolna is less known outside Hungary, and most of its wine is sold on the local market. Many estates are family-run, and their cellars are dug into the hillsides.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the south lie Villány and Pécs, to the north the Lake Balaton area and Etyek-Buda, and to the east across the Danube the Great Hungarian Plain.