📍 Pannonia

Pannonia is the warm south of Hungary, the area south of Lake Balaton and west of the Danube, named after the Roman province. In wine terms it is the Pannon wine region. Summers are hot and long, winters milder than in the north, and the slopes of the Mecsek and Villány hills warm up best. It includes the districts of Villány, Szekszárd, Pécs and Tolna.

Pannonia is the main red-wine area of Hungary. Villány, the southernmost district in the country, is known for reds from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Portugieser, which can be very full. Szekszárd is famous for red wines, including “Szekszárdi Bikavér”, and for the traditional grape Kadarka. Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos in Hungarian), Cabernet Franc and others also grow. Among whites, Chardonnay, Riesling and others are made on the slopes around Pécs.

The wines of the area are full-bodied, soft and aromatic, with scents of dark berries, spice and oak.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the north lies Lake Balaton with fresh whites, to the east the Great Hungarian Plain, and to the south across the border Croatia's Slavonia and Serbia's Vojvodina.