On a two-day visit to Somló recently we had meant to check out a few different wineries and give you a nice report on the wine trail in Hungary’s smallest, and possibly most picturesque, wine region. Sadly for you (but happily for us), we got stuck at our first stop, the Oszvald Pince. We just couldn’t tear ourselves away from this wine to continue our travels up and around the hill. Lajos Oszvald’s wines are so good, and the panzió attached to his winery is so pleasant, that it makes an entirely worthwhile destination on its own.

After arriving in Somló and fortifying ourselves for the pending wine tasting at the forgettable Flamingó Étterem (which Oszvald had cannily warned in advance “doesn’t make any big mistakes” with the food), Oszvald met us in the parking lot to guide us up the winding unmarked roads to his winery. He is actually an architect who lives in Budapest, and the winemaking is more of a hobby, albeit a very serious one. He has a winemaker who lives nearby handling things at the winery when he’s not around. Oszvald makes just four types of wine - olaszrizling, juhfark, furmint and hárslevelű - preferring to stick to the Hungarian varieties that are traditional to the region. Currently Oszvald produces only 10,000 bottles a year, which he noted would be upped considerably to about 60,000 bottles within the next three or four years when all of his newly planted vineyards begin to produce grapes.

His winery, located underneath the 150 year-old house which has been turned into two rental apartments for tourists, is all set to handle this anticipated increase in production, so there were lots of empty fermentation tanks waiting to be filled. Oszvald guided us through the small fluorescent-lit winery, explaining the processes and talking passionately about Somló and its wines. It’s one of the oldest regions in Hungary, he said, and “during the 19th century Somlói wines were the only Hungarian ones which were able to be exported to America. Due to their high alcohol content and acidity, they survived the long trip.” These days most of Somló’s producers make wines in such small quantities (Oszvald said he is number five in the region in terms of numbers) that they rarely make it out of the country. But the alcohol content is still massive: 14%-15% for most of Oszvald’s wines. So, even though he makes just four wines (which we tasted straight from the tanks), they certainly make themselves felt.

In addition to the vineyards located near his winery, Oszvald has been busy buying up more vineyards all over the hill. He now has 20 houses scattered around Somló since the attached houses are part of the package when he buys a vineyard. He rents the house above the winery “to introduce tourists to the region, not for the money.” The two tastefully furnished bedrooms - partially antique and partially Ikea - have windows opening out onto the gorgeous rolling vineyards, with a pretty little church in the distance, as well as several abandoned houses. The second, smaller apartment has less character and sleeps just two. There’s a stone patio with a big chestnut tree, and a terrace in the front - a pretty perfect place to do some wine drinking. The only bothersome things about the house - which were minor when compared to the gorgeous house, setting and wine - were the lack of an oven and just a double hot plate in place of a stove. Also, grilling isn’t permitted since much of Somló is winding dirt roads, which make it hard for fire engines to find their way if the fire gets out of hand.

The best part? Oszvald sold his wines to us in two-liter bottles, straight from the cask for just Ft 1,300 (€5.60) each. In Budapest his wine is available through Monarchia, and he plans to open his own wine shop soon which will stock his own wines, as well as others which are made from traditional Hungarian grapes. Meanwhile, at these prices, it’s worth heading straight to the winery to load up on Oszvald’s wine.