Latest Wine Releases from Gilvesy, Balaton, Hungary

Website: https://en.gilvesy.hu/

Robert Gilvesy was born and raised on a farm near Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada. His heritage was deeply rooted in Hungary through his parents, and it was not until he was 15 that he first visited his ancestral homeland. The draw of his native land was potent enough to eventually pull him away from his architectural career in Paris after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Subsequently, he embarked on a wine-producing journey in his homestead in 2012, revitalizing an old cellar along the way. He also began adopting organic farming methods in 2014.

Gilvesy Winery prides itself as a terroir-specific winery. Located south of Lake Balaton, it situates on an ancient volcanic butte, Mount Saint George (Szent György-Hegy). The soil composition ranges from volcanic basalt to eroded loess, sand, and clay — a mosaic of geology that differentiates every plot of land. This unique terroir was the convincing factor for Robert to embark on winemaking. His vineyard portfolio includes a blend of longstanding vines from the communist era and newly planted ones.

The winery, with roots dating back to the 17th century, was previously part of the Esterhazy estate. It is now home to a diversity of grape varieties, including Riesling, Furmint, Olaszrizling, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Gilvesy St George Cuvée 2021 Badacson, Hungary
12% alcohol. Organic. This wine uniquely blends Furmint, Olaszrizling, and Rajnai Rizling. The result is an invigorating brightness and intensity, highlighted by a mineral edge, lively lime and lemon fruit, green apple notes, and a wet stone character. The wine is both fruity and refined, with a pithy edge and structure. Perfectly balanced, this citrus-led dry white is incredibly satisfying. 91/100

Gilvesy Mogyorós Sauvignon Blanc 2019 Balaton, Hungary
12% alcohol. Organic. The Sauvignon is uniquely fragrant, imminent with elderflower, a green herbal hint, lime blossom, and a subtle touch of cardamon. The palate is vibrant, with a twist of mint, some lemongrass, and a twist of grapefruit. The fruit is beautiful, uniquely lively and alert, presenting an intriguingly complex dimension. 94/100

Gilvesy Pixu Furmint 2022 Balaton, Hungary
11.5% alcohol. This Furmint style wine is processed with minimal intervention. The aroma is enchanting, with notes of chalk, bruised apple, lemon, talcum powder, and a hint of the seashore. The palate is just as fresh and layered, accompanied by complex citrus fruits, saline notes, and a nice mineral dimension. This is truly a premium Furmint, finely crafted with hints of white pepper and a delightful texture, which wonderfully conceals the significant acidity. 94/100

Gilvesy Váradi Furmint 2020
12% alcohol. The wine is fresh, pure, transparent, built around the delightful lemony fruit. It’s radiant, immaculate, and sharply focused, accompanied by a saline twist, lemon, green apple fruit, with impressive precision. There’s a delicate mandarin note that graces the finish. This wine truly showcases textural sophistication, possessing an abundance of fruit that you would not typically find in a Tokaji Furmint. 94/100

Older notes:

Gilvesy Pezsgö Traditional Method NV Balaton, Hungary
Lively and focused with lovely taut citrus fruit, good brightness and nice acidity. Linear with intense citrus fruit. Impressive. 91/100

Gilvesy St George Cuvée 2019 Balaton, Hungary
12.5% alcohol. Organic. This blends together Rajnai Rizling, Olaszrizling and Furmint. It’s a fresh dry white with a lovely chalky, mineral texture under the pear and citrus fruit. There’s a little bit of mandarin and white pepper, too, adding a sort of spicy, fruity flourish to the finish. Amazing purity and quite a bit of delicacy, showing vibrant lime and lemon with freshness and precision. 91/100

Gilvesy Pixu Furmint 2019 Badascon, Hungary
No added sulfites until bottling, and does full malolactic. Refined nose of pear and citrus with some fine spicy notes. Lively, mineral and very expressive with subtle creamy hints. 93/100

Gilvesy Váradi Furmint 2019 Badascon, Hungary
Very linear, fresh and taut with a crystalline character. Shows lovely precision to the taut lemony fruit, and a distinctive mineral character. Very fine. 94/100

Gilvesy Tarányi Rajnai Rizling 2019 Badascon, Hungary
12.5% alcohol. Organic. Single vineyard Riesling from the south slope of the Mount Saint George extinct volcano. 50 year old vines. Lovely aromatics here: lemons, white pepper, fine herbs, some floral notes and a touch of mint. The palate has good concentration with fine yellow plum and pear fruit as well as a grainy, mineral, slightly chalky texture. This is fresh, fine and dry, with lovely fruit presence and a really nice spicy, mineral mouthfeel. 93/100

Gilvesy Váradi Furmint 2018 Badascon, Hungary
12.5% alcohol. This is lively and intense on the nose with a lime and lemon thrust as well as a hint of spice. The pepper has lively lemony acidity with some pithy grapefruit character and a bit of structure. Real intensity here with a big acid blast but also vivid fruit: it’s very Furmint in character, with a touch of apricot and marmalade on the finish. There’s also a spicy citrus note at the end of the palate. A really interesting, concentrated white wine. 92/100

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