Homonna Winery: Ours is a small boutique winery with a capacity of 50 hl. We produce only 3-5,000 bottles of wine a year. We try to integrate our innovative ideas into the traditional practices of the craft, and offer something more than just a traditional Tokaj wine. Our wines are all fermented and aged in barrels until I decide that is time they are bottled. Our vineyards are situated within the precincts of two communes of the Tokaj Foothills: Erdobenye and Olaszliszka.
The Csaky Vineyard – part of Meszes-Major, in the proximity of Olaszliszka – yields Harslevelu grapes on 0.3 hectares (0.74 acres). The original plantation structure was converted from 10,000 plants per hectare to a spacing of 2×1 meters in 2004. Presently, we use unilateral trellising, and we prune back to short canes leaving 8-12 buds.
The clay loam soil of the vineyard provides excellent drainage, and is ideal for the Harslevelu variety. We have been able to harvest healthy and perfectly ripe golden clusters from the Csaky Vineyard each year so far.
The most valuable lots of our Estate are located in the Hatari Vineyard of Olaszliszka. The 2 hectares (4.94 acres) of 80-year-old grapevines are head trained, and an older, small-cluster Furmint clone is planted here. While the soil is highly eroded on the hillside, the valley floor has a little thicker topsoil. All the work is done by hand, and the old vines usually ripen earlier and yield less; but it is always of excellent quality.
Most of the fruit from these lots is made into dry wine, but a small percentage serves as one of the building blocks of the sweet “Threesome” blend.
To experiment with an older variety, we have recently planted 0.2 hectares of Kover grape on the valley floor. That plot will start yielding in two years.
Some lots of the Hatari Vineyard belong to the commune of Erdobenye. We have 0.5 hectares here planted with T-85, T-92 clones of Furmint (bigger clusters, bigger berries) and a little Harslevelu. This plot is the source of most of our sweet wines.
We added another 0.4-hectare lot to our estate this year on the hillside of Hatari Vineyard. The vines were in poor condition, which means that this rehabilitation will take a couple of years. This year we did drastic pruning, and made the first steps to convert it to the preferred cultivation method.
