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The wine world is small.
Which is why I got goosebumps when I revisited Zsirai winery via their website. I was introduced to them a few months ago when their Head of Sales visited Calgary. Turns out Máté studied for his WSET Diploma (Level 4) at the same school as I did in the tiny city of Rust, Austria. We compared experiences, and memories of my time in the region came flooding back to me.
Zsirai winery is in Hungary. In fact, the grapes for the featured wine were grown in the Nagy- Somlói wine region, just on the other side of the Austria - Hungary border very close to the city of Rust. Rust is on Lake Neusiedl shown on the map to the northwest of the blue circle which highlighting Nagy Somló.
Zsirai is a family business founded by the late Csaba Zsirai (1961-2011). What started out as a hobby turned into his “second act”. Just like me, he left his office job, followed his passion, and went full time into wine where he eventually built Zsirai winery. His legacy now continues in the capable hands of his daughters Petra and Kata, who are now at the helm with their mother.
Honestly, I didn’t know that Hungary made wine.
Common mistake.
Winemaking has been happening in Hungary since Roman times. Today, sweet Tokaji is Hungary’s most famous wine with records going back to as early as the late 15th century. More on Tokaji in another article!
I’m surprised Hungarian wines are not as well-known with such a long history!
During the Soviet era, Hungarian wines languished when the focus became quantity versus quality. This stalled the country’s grape growing and winemaking evolution – as the rest of the wine world embraced new wine knowledge and technologies.
Today Hungary has 22 wine regions, with the Olaszrizling grape being its most widely planted grape…. And you guessed it, the star grape for this article.
Never heard of it.
Olaszrizling, not to be confused with the Riesling grape, has many synonyms. It is known in other countries as Welschriesling in Austria and Germany, Graševina in Croatia, and Laški Rizling in Slovenia, just to name a few.
It is grown throughout Central and Eastern Europe and is known for its ability to retain acidity, giving it the versatility to produce many different styles of still or sparkling wine, ranging in sweetness from dry to sweet.
But its true superpower is it is capable of ageing.
Aren’t all grapes capable of ageing?
No this is a misconception. Firstly, regardless of the grape variety the majority of the world’s wines are designed to be consumed within a few years. In other words, for their intended shelf life these wines will peak in terms of best drinkability window, and at a certain point their quality will start to diminish.
The ability to age means a wine is capable of improving with time, by increasing its complexity and developing interesting new characteristics (mainly flavours and aromas), and also in terms of texture and structure integration (acidity, alcohol, and tannins). The key components needed are the wine’s structure and initial concentration of flavour and aromas.
Wine structure consists of acidity, tannins, alcohol, and in some cases, sugar. I think of these elements as the foundation or backbone of the wine. Without that structure, the wine will fall apart as it ages. Essentially the structure maintains the wine in parallel to the flavour’s evolution. The goal of ageing is for the wine to get better!
Okay what would happen if it were not improving with time?
Not only would the flavours increase in complexity, but they become less intense and fade with time. Some wines will oxidize leaving unpleasant aromas of bruised apples.
Let’s go back to the Nagy- Somlói wine region. Turns out there is a fun legend associated with it. Wines of this region were nicknamed wedding night wines.
Gasp, I thought this was G rated. (awkward pause)
What, this is history!
The myth goes that when these wines are consumed prior to consummation on one’s wedding night, the result is the conception of a baby boy. Rumour has it this “method” was adhered to by several European royal dynasties to increase the likelihood of a male heir!
Sounds like clever marketing.
According to several sources, the Habsburg dynasty employed this method for centuries. Some even state that Nagy- Somlói wines were sold in pharmacies. The legend continues that Queen Victoria was apparently a fan and kept these wines in her cellar, perhaps because her first and third child were female.
Need an heir and a spare! I’m always amazed that you find these quirky stories.
Me too. You cannot make this stuff up!
But I didn’t feature this wine for the folk story (although it was a fun find!) but rather for its ageing notes. This is a 2020 vintage wine and it is very complex. There are some captivating notes I still don’t know what to call. Exotic flavours that are perhaps foreign to a North American palate.
But what notes would be considered ageing notes?
Nuts, marzipan, marmalade, ginger, and caramel.
Any parting words, Eveline?
Indeed. Don’t shy away from foreign sounding grapes and regions. Exploration is the best part of wine! What’s the worst that can happen?
Cheers to that - I look forward to the details of this wine and related articles below!
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Zsirai Olaszrizling 2020 from Nagy- Somlói, Hungary
Style: Medium body minerally white wine
Variety(ies): 100% Olaszrizling
This captivating and intriguing wine starts slow. It needs some swirling and a little time to allow intensity to come through. Your patience is rewarded with notes of grapefruit, almond skin, white blossom, green apple, lemon, unripe peach, mandarin orange with hints of passion fruit, marmalade, and ginger. Eventually the more mineral focused notes enter the picture with saline, wet stone, and flint characteristics. After the wine has had a chance to breathe passion fruit, citrus oils, caramel, marzipan, and nut flavours shine through. This wine keeps on giving with its long finish.
Best pairings: Grilled scallops, Chicken almondine with a white wine sauce, Pork tenderloin with apple and ginger, & Asparagus risotto with Parmesan, Garlic, sea salt, and lemon zest flatbread, and Sushi, Cheeses: Comté, Gruyère and Aged Gouda.
Serving Temperature: 8 - 10 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Decant for about 15 minutes
Price: ~$29 Cdn
Relevant Shades of Grape links: Keep scrolling
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LINKS TO RELEVANT PAST SHADES OF GRAPE ARTICLES:
SOURCES:
Austrian Wine, no date. Welschriesling. [online] Available at: Austrian Wine [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Colonia Natura, no date. Eddig lehet, hogy rosszul tudtad, hogy hol terem a nászéjszakák bora. [online] Available at: Colonia Natura [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Europe Between East and West, 2015. Somló: wine, lineage and legend, rarity & royalty. [online] Available at: Europe Between East and West [Accessed 20 August 2026].
GuildSomm, no date. Grow: Welschriesling/Graševina grape. [online] Available at: GuildSomm [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Harding, J. and Robinson, J., 2023. The Oxford companion to wine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hungarian Wines, no date. Grape varieties. [online] Available at: Hungarian Wines [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Jancis Robinson, no date. Welschriesling. [online] Available at: Jancis Robinson [Accessed 20 August 2026].
PBS, no date. The surprising lives of Victoria’s children. [online] Available at: PBS [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Sanderson, R. and Thomas, R., 2025. Nitrogen | Definition, symbol, uses, properties, atomic number, & facts. Encyclopaedia Britannica. [online] Available at: Encyclopaedia Britannica [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Taste Hungary, no date. Nagy Somló PDO: A guide to the wine region. [online] Available at: Taste Hungary [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Természetjáró, no date. The magical secrets of Somló. [online] Available at: Természetjáró [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Tóbiás, T., 2024. A beginner’s guide to Somló wines. Offbeat Budapest & Vienna. [online] Available at: Offbeat Budapest & Vienna [Accessed 20 August 2026].
The page identifies Tas Tóbiás as the author and gives the publication date as 14 January 2024, so I would use an author-date citation rather than “Offbeat Budapest, no date.” (Offbeat Budapest)
Vinoport, no date. Somlói – a nászéjszakák bora. [online] Available at: Vinoport [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Wine & Spirit Education Trust, 2025. D3: Wines of the World – An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Wine-Searcher, no date. Welschriesling. [online] Available at: Wine-Searcher [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Zsirai Winery, no date. Somló wine region. [online] Available at: Zsirai Winery [Accessed 20 August 2026].
Zsirai Winery, 2020. Olaszrizling 2020. [PDF] Available at: Zsirai Winery PDF [Accessed 20 August 2026].