Our beloved father raised us along these principles, and he established the Zsirai Winery based on them. These are the values we follow when fulfilling his dream and his legacy. When he became owner of the winery, he was driven by his love for nature and purity, his respect for preserving heritage and his affection for Hungarian wine. This made him set out on a path that established our family’s presence at three of the most significant Hungarian terrains today.
Tokaj-hegyalja
It’s hard to talk about the region and Tokaj wines without getting emotional. This area is not simply a wine region to us, but it’s rather a part of our national identity. The first written record of vineyards in Tokaj dates back to 1252. Tokaj is still a demarcated wine dis-trict, where the two most important grape varieties out of the six permitted are Furmint and Hárslevelű. Since the early 2000s, these two varieties have also been used to make high-quality, full-bodied dry wines here, which faithfully reflect the distinctive taste of the volcanic terroir. Our world-famous Tokaj wine specialty, Tokaji Aszú, was first mentioned in 1571, making it evident that the greatest treasure of the region is almost 500 years old. It has been widely recognised and appreciated ever since the French King Louis XIV is said to have referred to it as “Wine of Kings and King of Wines”, indeed, Mozart and Goethe were also keen admirers of it. What exactly is this wine, Tokaji Aszú? It is one of the richest, most valuable natural sweet wines in the world, whose making re-quires specific climatic conditions.
Mád
Mád has always been a significant village of the Tokaj terroir. Noble families bought vineyards around Mád, and built or bought cellars in the village.
We bought the first vineyard in 2005. The lands are located in Tállya, Tarcal, and on the most excellent Padi-hill slope of Rátka close to Mád. We have been tending to our lands ever since and today we cultivate 13 acres of vineyards in and around Mád (Rátka, Tállya, Tarcal, Tokaj).
Középhegy
One of the dearest areas of our heart, however, is the Középhegy (Middle Mountain). It is one of the most northwestern vineyards of Mád, whose name originally means the area between two vineyards. It is located between, the Holdvölgy, the Padihegy and the Úrágya-Köves vineyards.