Béla Fekete (the ‘Grand Old Man of Somló’) founded the winery in the 1970s. In 2014 Gábor’s winemaking friend Gyuri persuaded Gábor and his partner Ákos to purchase the 4.3-hectare organically farmed vineyard when it was for sale. When Gyuri suddenly passed away, Gábor became the winemaker.
Gábor Riesz has been making the wine since Gyuri passed away right before harvest in 2017. Before that, he was managing the business/sales side. He has 3 children, two daughters and a son, and commutes between the winery and his home in Nassfeld, a ski area in Austria.
Media Inquiries: riesz.gabor@gmail.com | https://www.feketepincesomlo.hu/en/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
In one sentence, it is the search for balance in wine, especially given the high acidity of Hungarian varieties and the extreme minerality of the volcanic soil of Somló. In our winery, that search started over 40 years ago with our founder Mr. Fekete, who became one of the iconic figures of Somló (The Grand Man of Somló, or Mr. Hárslevelű, etc). His wines became must-tries from Somló. Even though I did not plan it, life put me in charge as the next winemaker to lead that search. For the last 10 years, I have worked on maintaining the legacy of Mr. Fekete and the tradition of our winemaking. Luckily my wife helps me a lot in this journey.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
To achieve sustainability – which means that our wines are organic and that the winery is financially healthy and sustainable without outside investment – there are two important wishes. As it is Somló, we are facing the lack of infrastructure, mainly we do not have potable water at the cellar. It would make our life much easier if we had it. The 12-13,000 bottles we produce annually keeps our cash-flow positive, but I would love to grow to 15-18,000 bottles, which would allow us to slowly reinvest in the vineyard and cellar.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Furmint is a very special grape variety to me. Even before we purchased the winery, it was one of my favorite grape varieties. When Gyuri came up with the idea to take over Fekete Pince, we opened a bottle of Fekete Béla furmint from 2007. That was a point of no return for all of us. I remember asking Gyuri how much we should make and when shall we pay. We simply were convinced that the winery had to continue its tradition and produce wines as wonderful as that 2007 Furmint.
The 2018 Furmint has all the qualities we liked in the 2007. Bronze color, rich in both the smell and taste, dry, but as it has reasonable alcohol and extract the little sugar makes is warm and friendly. It is definitely something you want to open at Thanksgiving with your turkey.
What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
I played curling for 12 years and became national champion four times, meaning I represented Hungary four times in the Men’s European Curling Championships. In 2018, my team and I received a fair played prize from the Hungarian Olympic Committee as a recognition of my decision during our game against England.