🏰 Disznókő

Disznókő is a wine estate at Mezőzombor in the Tokaj wine region of north-eastern Hungary. According to the estate, it takes its name from the Disznókő vineyard, first recorded in 1413; the name means “wild boar stone”. In 1992 the French group AXA Millésimes bought the property, and Wikidata gives the same year and owner. The estate groups several historic adjoining vineyards around the winery; in the 18th-century classification by János Matolai most of them, including Disznókő, Hangács and Lajos, were listed as first growths.

According to the estate, replanting began in 1994 and a new winery designed by Dezső Ekler was completed in 1995. Its first acclaimed Tokaji Aszú came from the 1993 vintage; other wines include the single-vineyard Kapi Aszú 6 puttonyos (from 1999), the 1413 Édes Szamorodni (from 2012) and the dry Inspiration (from 2017).

According to the estate, the Tokaj region was delimited by royal decree in 1737, and Disznókő helped found the Tokaj Renaissance association of classified vineyards in 1995; the first great Aszú, from the 1993 vintage, was released in 1997, and the estate was named Winery of the Year in Hungary in 2005. The Tokaj production specification (10th version, for grapes harvested after 1 August 2025) allows six grapes (Furmint, Hárslevelű, Kabar, Kövérszőlő, Sárgamuskotály and Zéta), requires at least 18 months of ageing in wooden casks for Aszú and 24 months for dry Szamorodni, and permits the term 6 puttonyos only for Aszú with at least 150 g/l of residual sugar.

Tokaj is a protected designation of origin (PDO) listed in the EU register eAmbrosia, and the region has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002. Under EU law a PDO wine must be made entirely from grapes grown in the defined area and be produced there.

Why it matters to you. Tokaji can be dry or sweet; the word on the label, Aszú, Szamorodni or a grape name, tells you which style you are buying. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.