Villany Wine Region

Villany sits at the southern edge of the country beneath the Villany hills, on limestone, with the longest and warmest growing season in Hungary. It is red-wine country in a nation better known for whites. Cabernet Franc has become the local speciality and is bottled under the Villanyi Franc name, alongside Portugieser, Kekfrankos, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The cellar rows are what you actually walk through: at Villanykovesd, whitewashed doors run in two tiers along a lane cut into the hillside, and at Palkonya a similar row curves around the village behind a small round church. A marked wine route links the villages with Siklos and its castle and can be cycled in a day.

What you actually see

• The Villanykovesd cellar row - two tiers of whitewashed cellar doors on a hillside lane.
• The Palkonya row - a curving line of cellars behind a small round village church.
• Villanyi Franc - the local Cabernet Franc style that made the region's name.
• The wine route - marked cycling and walking links between the cellar villages.

When to go

May to October, with September the best month for the vineyards and the harvest. Many cellars open properly only at weekends outside high summer and several want a phone call the day before rather than a walk-in. Wine festivals fill the villages in late summer and early autumn, when accommodation is scarce and booked well in advance.

Honest expectations

It is three hours from Budapest and effectively a driving region, which is an obvious problem at a tasting; plan on a driver or a taxi between villages. The flagship reds are expensive by Hungarian standards and not always worth it. Midweek in winter the villages are shut and silent. Some cellars pour generously to large stag-party groups, which sets the tone of an afternoon.

Nearby

Siklos castle and the town of Pecs with its Roman tombs are both within an hour.