It would be hard to find a more explosive personality than Zsolt. And there is nothing more honest than wine: it carries the unmistakable imprint of the person who made it.
Zsolt’s approach may seem radical at first glance: skin fermentation, extended aging on the lees, aging under veil, bottling with lees, and zero added sulfur. Yet in many ways, these methods are not modern at all. They are among the oldest and most natural ways of making wine.
Zsolt Sütő farms 12 hectares of land, 5 of which are planted with vines. He firmly believes that the microbial life closer to the ground is fundamentally different from that higher up in the cellar. By allowing fermentation and aging to take place in this environment, the wine benefits from a richer and more diverse microbial ecosystem. The result: wines that are vibrant, layered, and full of character.
His key varieties include Welshriesling, Grüner Veltliner, Portugieser, Blaufrankisch, and Sankt Laurent. The vineyards are located on the Garam hills at the edge of the village of Kürt. The soils are predominantly sedimentary loess, with a top layer of clay loess over marine sediments, sandstone, and marl. Deeper down, impermeable layers of yellow and grey clay shape the structure and allow water retention of the site.
