Juhfark is the signature grape of Somló and is grown in meaningful quantities almost nowhere else in the world. Named after the “sheep’s tail” shape of its tightly clustered bunches, it is a demanding, disease-prone variety that was largely uprooted during the communist era due to its difficulty in the vineyard. Today, it has returned as the defining expression of this ancient volcanic hill, and remains deeply tied to Somló’s identity.

In the glass, Juhfark is naturally high in acidity and relatively neutral in fruit profile, acting more as a vessel for site than variety. On Somló’s basalt-rich soils, it becomes intensely mineral, saline, and finely structured, with a character that many local growers describe as both challenging and deeply rewarding: high effort in the vineyard, high precision in the glass.

For this wine, fruit is hand-harvested and given around four hours of skin contact before fermentation in 1000L Hungarian oak barrels. It then spends 10 months on lees in the same vessels before being transferred to larger tanks for extended reductive ageing of a minimum of two years. There is no racking and no bâtonnage, preserving tension and purity while allowing slow, quiet development.

The result is a wine of striking duality: textural and slightly opulent in feel, yet driven by piercing acidity and a core of volcanic minerality. Notes of citrus oil, green orchard fruit, herbal complexity and savoury spice sit over a backbone of salt, ash and crushed rock.

From the historic Fekete estate—long associated with the legendary Béla Fekete and now continued by Gábor Riesz and family—this is one of the most complete expressions of Somló’s unique terroir. A benchmark cool-climate volcanic white, built for both contemplation and the table.