Described by many as the most innovative grower in the region and by others as "the leading light in Tokaji," Istvan Szepsy's family has been making wine around the Tokaji village of Mad for so many centuries that there is an appellation named after him. He was instrumental in the creation of the Royal Tokaji Wine Company after the fall of Communism in 1989 and oversaw both growing and winemaking from its inception until it was sold off in 1993 to a group of British investors.

Under his eponymous label which he founded in 1987, Szepsy cultivates 20 hectares, most in such exceptionally gifted vineyards as the Királyhegy, the Úrágya and the Szent Tamás at Mád, as well as two hectares in the Szepsy vineyard at Bodrogkeresztúr. In purchasing and shaping his sites, Szepsy has focused on land with weathered rock debris, where volcanic and post-volcanic activity created a soil singularly rich in minerals but very low in nutrients. Subjected to the drastic limitation of yield - 4,000 kilograms of grapes per hectare at the start of ripening - these plantations produce wines that are very generous, complex, and elegant.

Istvan Szepsy not only matures, but also ferments his wines in wood. Now that the estate has taken shape, the winemaker faces the next important task of selecting the best strains of Furmint and Hárslevelu from his wines, some 30-40 years old and containing the original clones. In 1999 he was awarded the official cross of the Hungarian Republic, in 2000 he was a gold-wreath farmer for his work with the traditional grapes of the region, and in 2001 he was awarded wine-maker of the year.

Istvan Szepsy is first and foremost a sweet wine producer. His Aszu (Botrytised) wines are widely regarded as the best (and most expensive) in this magical region. He has also recently returned to bottling a traditional style called Szamarodni which he has named after his first grandson Daniel. Tasting this wine is literally a revelatory experience. All of the lauds for his sweet wines aside it was actually Szepsy's dry wines that first drew us to him. He vinifies single vineyard Furmint and Harslevelu lots into absolutely stunning, spice laden and texture filled dry wines that we believe will soon take their rightful place on the great wine lists of America's top restaurants.

Click to read a Decanter article on the dry wines of Tokaji by Dr. Caroline Gilby, MW

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