KADARKA 2024

Kadarka is one of the oldest red grapes of the Carpathian Basin — Hungarian and Balkan in origin, thin-skinned, prone to rot, difficult to ripen evenly. For most of the 20th century it was treated as a workhorse: planted for cheap bulk cuvées and mass-produced table wine, then largely ripped out in favour of tougher, higher-yielding varieties better suited to industrial production. Kövesd grows it on 1.3 hectares in Garamkövesd, on the Slovak side of the border — hand-harvested and macerated on its skins for seven to eight days with careful remontage, just enough to build colour and grip without losing the grape's natural lightness. Eleven months resting in oak, then bottled unfined and unfiltered. 950 bottles made.