Zalán Mucsi is a 3rd generation winemaker from the Great Plains (Alföld). He originally had his sights set on Szekszárd. Along the way he married Barbara in her small hometown of Gyönk in the Tolna region.


After getting to know Gyönk better and looking around a bit, he soon fell in love with the Pelzberg vineyard. Much like two betrothals in one year, they took their wedding money and purchased a few hectares on the Pelzberg hill along with a cellar originally built in 1880. Similar to Szekszárd (which Tolna was a part of until 1997), it has deep Swabian roots, loess, clay and limestone soils, but is 1-2 degrees cooler.

Using zero absorbable chemicals like herbicides and pesticides, everything has been farmed organically from the very beginning. The vineyard health and increasing immunity are both managed by orange oil, copper, sulfur and biodiversity. For many years the production was one hundred to three hundred bottles and all sold locally, so getting certification was not a priority.


Given growing exports and adding some vines, they are now in transition and getting certification in the coming years. Zalán has a great sense of humility toward nature and uses the vineyard to recharge and decompress despite the labor involved. He has a very gentle, nurturing, and thoughtful disposition. It’s not surprising that the 4th generation is following suit and already working towards taking over when the time comes. As Zalán puts it, the whole process should, “bring out the best in myself and in my wines.”

The winemaking is mostly all open vat fermented, manual punchdowns, all basket pressed, and most secondary fermentation and aging is usually in barrel. All fermentations are spontaneous without any temperature control. Wines are moved by gravity and pumps and are bottled unfiltered with a small sulfur addition. While there’s some new experimentation with carbonic fermentation, the 2018 Kadarka and 2017 Kékfrankos are refreshingly old school and well executed.