📍 Balaton

Balaton is a wine region on the shores of the largest lake in Central Europe, in Hungary. The lake softens the climate, reflects light and stores warmth, so grapes ripen well. In the nineteenth century this was one single wine area, and today it is divided into six: Badacsony, Balatonboglár, Balaton-felvidék, Balatonfüred-Csopak, Nagy-Somló and Zala. The region is part of Hungarian wine.

The most widespread grape is Olaszrizling (Welschriesling). Badacsony is known for its basalt hills and the local white grape Kéknyelű, and Pinot Gris is called Szürkebarát ("grey friar") here. In Nagy-Somló, on a volcanic hill, grows Juhfark ("sheep's tail"), a local white grape. The wines are mostly white, fresh and mineral, but there are reds too.

The common regional name for the wines is Balatonmelléki.

For Hungarians Balaton is a popular summer holiday place. The lake covers about 600 square kilometres and stretches roughly 77 kilometres; Balatonboglár lies on the southern shore, and Badacsony and Balatonfüred-Csopak on the northern. Nagy-Somló is a small district on a solitary volcanic hill. The Balaton-felvidék district lies on hills north of the lake.