Ikon Winery – Hungarian Wine Cellar of the Year 2013

Ikon Winery in Balatonlelle – owned by three Hungarian families and producing 350 000 bottles per annum – would like not only to stabilize their market share but also to increase export.

The title of the Wine Cellar of the Year is granted to the collective performance of such a winemaker company, which has made the most effort in propagating Hungarian wines, wine-culture and civilized drinking both inside and outside of Hungary in the given year.

Photo: www.ikonboraszat.hu‎

Most of the merit for establishing and propagating the award of the “Wine Cellar of the Year” is due to János Konyári. His 39 ha property block, with a processing plant in the center, is the best example of a business venture carefully planned for the long term. This winery has been established on the basis of one important principle: to make excellent wines at favorable prices.

The modern and stylistic building of the winery accommodates the most modern wine-making technology; among others, gravity-fed grape processing, temperature-controlled steel tanks and air-conditioned fermenting rooms are all ensure achieving the highest quality. This technology produces absolutely clear and perfect wines. Various levels of the product range are matched with the yields of appropriate grape varieties. The quality of his wines may increase in parallel with the maturity of vines.

Photo: www.ikonboraszat.hu‎

In general, the soil in this region is loess, which is an excellent base for several varieties. In the past this area was owned by the Tihany Abbacy, which had run a highly respected winery here. This is the proof of the excellent location of this property.

The winery is based, first of all, on three classic Bordeaux varieties; the company’s iconic wine is made of cabernet franc. They believe that the character of the region and the potential of the company should be based mostly on red wines; this fact is clearly reflected in the structure of the plantation. The winery produces white wines too, but they purchase grapes from third-party suppliers.