Kunsag

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The vast Kunsag—named after the Cumans, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group that settled in Eastern Hungary in the 13th century—is the largest wine region not only in the Great Plain but in the entire country. Situated between the Danube and Tisza Rivers, with a small section around Tiszafoldvar east of the Tisza, the wine region is shared by the five counties of Bacs-Kiskun, Csongrad, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Pest. It consists of 95 communities grouped in eight districts, covering a total growing area of 103,863 hectares, including 1,436 ha in Class I, 26,196 ha in Class II, and the rest in Class III sites. Only 29,544 ha of this available area is planted with vines.

A charter provides documentary evidence of wines having been made here as early as the Ilth century. Wine production continued through the Middle Ages and even during the Ottoman Occupation, typically as a secondary pursuit serving local needs, but also producing a small surplus for export Of course, these wines were neither of outstanding quality nor particularly famous. Plantation of both vines and other fruit on a larger scale began in the late 18 th century, for the main purpose of binding the shifting sands, but these plantations had not really attained national significance until the phylloxera attacked and destroyed 90% of the vines in the hillside—vineyards country. The vines of the Great Plain survived because loose sandy soils are impervious to the root louse. This immunity gave a temporary boost to the value of vineyards in the Kunsag, and the area planted with vines multiplied by the end of the 19 th century. Profits from wine sales also increased due to the elimination of much of the competition around the country. In 1892, a government decree established the Viticultural Research Institute in Kecskemet, relying on highly qualified professionals such as Janos Mathiasz, the world-famous root-stock breeder. A second wave of new plantation in the I960′s still favored the old varieties yielding plain, dilute wine. It was only in the I970′s that a preference emerged for quality varieties and grapes suitable for sparkling wine production.

Initially termed “Kiskunsag,” the region was isolated in 1990 from the Alfold or Great Plain region, then augmented by sig-nificant additional acreage in 1997. Although it has never been considered as one of the traditional wine producing areas, it was already mentioned among the wine regions designated in 1897—admittedly merely as a source of what the regulators termed “orchard wines.” The little local tradition there is to talk about is mostly limited to the spur-pruned or cane-pruned lotv head training and the winter covering of the trunk. These’, cultivation methods are still widely used in the smaller vineyards of the region.

The Kunsag produces the bulk of Hungary’s commercially sold wines, relying on a wide range of grape varieties far in excess of those listed above. These “sand-grown” table wines tend to be light and soft, with little body and a flat taste. The whites are typically flabby, often with high sugar degrees and alcohol. The reds are plain with no trace of complexity, although the better grapes have the potential to produce better quality, particularly with conscientiously limited yields. Top quality wines are practically nonexistent in these parts. Around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, vineyards planted in sand exceeded the national average crop of 5-6 hectoliters per hold (about 9-10 hectoliters per hectare) three or four times. Although some authors cited these figures with a measure of pride, growers today should think twice about such yields being conducive to competitive wines for an increasingly finicky global market.

The Kecskemeti Pecsenye Feher and the Kecskemeti Leanyka, both sweet whites, were two better-known wines from the Kunsag between the two world wars. At one time, the Csengodi Olaszrizling was a name to reckon with among dry whites. In the second half of the 20th century, the Alfoldi Nemes Kadarka, a late-harvest semi-dry red bottled in smaller lots, rose to popularity with a certain clientele who liked their red low in acid and tannin, but high in alcohol. Kadarka was also the staple grape for making siller or kdstelyos type wines.

Area: 29544 hectares.

Climate: little precipitation. Hot, sunny summer and dry winter.

Vine varieties, wines: Italian Riesling – reseda fragrance, pleasant tart. Ezerjó, Kövidinka – mild wines with high sugar- and alcohol-contents. Kadarka – ruby red, spicy fragrance, aromaful. Kékfrankos – fine, spicy, light.

For more interesting information
Hungarian wines and wineregions. Authors: Zoltán Benyák, Tibor Dékány.	Terra Benedicta 2003: Tokaj and Beyond Authors: Rohály Gábor, Mészáros Gabriella, Nagymarosy András.