Eger
Continental
A baroque wine town in the Bükk foothills, home of the blend called Bull's Blood, with cellars carved into volcanic tuff.
Overview
About Eger
Eger is a baroque town in north-east Hungary, at the southern foot of the Bükk mountains, and the centre of a wine region that dates back to the Middle Ages. Its best-known wine is Egri Bikavér, or Bull's Blood of Eger, a red blend built around Kékfrankos (Blaufränkisch) with other red varieties. The name is tied to the siege of Eger's castle in 1552, when defenders were said to have drunk so much red wine that the Ottoman attackers thought they were drinking bull's blood.
A lighter white blend, Egri Csillag, or Star of Eger, is made from a mix of local and international white varieties. The town's Szépasszony-völgy, or Valley of the Beautiful Women, is lined with small cellars cut into volcanic tuff, and the visit is one of the region's best-known wine experiences.
Eger is marked on the map.
Hungary
Shaded: Heves. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Continental
Warm, dry summers and cold winters, with the Bükk mountains sheltering the vineyards from the north. Long, sunny autumns suit late-ripening reds, and the southern slopes are the warmest.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Volcanic tuff and clay over limestone in the Bükk foothills, with loess on some slopes. The soft tuff is what allows the cellars to be dug.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Eger has a set of protected regional wines, including Bikavér, with a stricter Superior tier above it.
Egri Bikavér Superior
The stricter tier of the red blend, with tighter rules on grapes and ageing.
Egri Bikavér
The traditional red blend, built around Kékfrankos.
Egri Csillag
A white blend of local and international varieties.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.