The meteorological circumstances at the beginning of 2021 allowed us to finish pruning very early, by the end of January. There were no heavy frosts and February was milder. Temperatures were up by 2C compared to the average of the last 50 years. There was more rain and snow as well in this season with an amount of 56,3 mm of rainfall. (Normal average in February is around 31,9 mm).

After a milder winter a cooler spring arrived with lower average temperatures lasting till the beginning of June. These conditions had an impact also on the growing season by delaying it by 2-3 weeks. (The monthly temperature fallbacks in comparison with the average of the previous 50 years are the following: March 0,8 Celsius degree, April 2,5 Celsius degree, May 2,1 Celsius degree.)

Budding took place later this year because the previous weeks of rain and chill temperatures slowed down the growth. The first signs of it appeared on the 30th April at our Estate (usually budburst happens between the 5th and 10th of April). Blooming was also 2 weeks late – based on the average date of the previous years - and happened on the 16th of June.

Blooming was also 2 weeks late – based on the average date of the previous years - and happened on the 16th of June. Early June was unusually cold and was followed by an extremely hot period with an end of June peak breaking the heat-record of the previous 120 years. The whole summer season was relatively hot, temperatures were often above 35 Celsius degrees and parallel to that the amount of rain was substantially lower ( 203 mm in 2021 compared to the usual 300 mm) but there was quite high humidity. Despite the warm weather the vines were not able to make up the delay taken during the spring and so was the grape as well.

This year we started the harvest later than usual, on the 14th of September, collecting the Zéta grape from the Dorgó. (Usually we always start the harvest period between the 14th and 30th of August.). September was warm and rainless and temperatures were sometimes still above 30 Celsius degrees, which caused some difficulties during our dry harvest. These two factors also induced rapid water loss and shrivelling in the berries. The conditions and the expected delay of the ripening process caused uncommonly high acidity, a slowly increasing sugar level. The raising pressure of botrytis pickling were also aggravating the decision on the optimal date of the dry harvest. In spite of the challenges with a more rigorous and time-consuming picking method we were able to collect high quality dry berries only in smaller quantities. We finished the harvest for our dry wines on the 11th of October – 3 weeks later then in the last 3 vintages - by picking the Hárslevelű in the Becsek vineyard.

On the 27th of September we could finally start harvesting our 1st class aszú berries one by one. Till that point we have already harvested our furmint base wine for the Culture aszú earlier on the 20th and 21st of September. Because of the delay of the ripening process, collecting the szamorodni bunches was also challenging. The decreasing number of sunny hours per day allowed us to collect the usual quantity only partially. At the end the processed grape quality was in accordance with the previous brilliant vintages. The early rainy days of November did not give us enough time to extend the harvest time till late Autumn, so the last lot of bunches for our sweet wines arrived in the winery on the 29th of October. The 2021 harvest period ended on the 2nd of November with the picking of more aszú berries.

Chart displaying the weather conditions of the year 2021:

Through the eyes of our winemaker

As previously written, the delayed ripening process, the high temperatures of early September, the autumn rains, the high concentration of acidity in the berries and early appearing of the botrytis cinerea (noble rot) all challenged us. But with the close observation and analysation of the parameters we were able to set the optimal harvest dates for the different wines. The historical parcels of Mád provided us again with excellent fruit. Due to the lower yield it is sure that a few wines of our regular portfolio will not be released from this vintage.

The wines of 2021 will have tight, dynamic and crystal clear characters with high acidity that will provide longer aging potential.

HOLDVÖLGY wines to be released from vintage 2021:

Vision dry estate blend

Expression dry hárslevelű

Intuition No3. dry furmint

Exaltation 2021 – késői szüretelésű sárgamuskotály, Nyulászó-dűlő

Eloquence sweet szamorodni

Culture 6 puttonyos tokaji aszú

HOLD AND HOLLO DRY blend

HOLD AND HOLLO UPPP off-dry sparkling wine

HOLDVÖLGY wines that maybe will be released from 2021:

Meditation 2021 dry furmint

Intuition No2. off-dry Muscat a Petit Grains

HOLDVÖLGY wines that will not be released from 2021:

Signature sweet estate blend

Hold and hollo sweet blend