This year, the harvest at Disznókő began earlier than ever before, starting on August 23rd with the picking for our sparkling wines and for base wine for experimental batches. The harvest for the base material of our dry Furmint also began nearly three weeks earlier than last year, on August 27th, in the west-facing Dorgó vineyard.

In 2024, every stage of the vine’s development—budburst, flowering, veraison—occurred unusually early. The exceptionally hot summer months further accelerated the ripening process. Although the weather remains warm and dry, we have fortunately not experienced the severe drought symptoms seen during the extremely arid year of 2022, thanks to the rainfalls in June and early July, which provided reasonable water reserves for our vines. As a result, the grape clusters have developed nicely and remained healthy.

The quality of the grapes harvested for our dry wines is indeed promising. Although the yield so far is slightly below expectations, the clusters show excellent sugar-acid ratios. Despite the summer heat, we are optimistic about producing rich, well-balanced dry wines with beautiful acidity. The botrytis necessary for producing Aszú is yet to appear, as forecasts indicate that the dry, warm weather will continue.

The harvest is progressing, the tanks are filling up nicely, and we are filled with anticipation to see what characteristics this year will highlight in our wines. The bulk of the work is still ahead of us, but it is already clear that the 2024 vintage will be special.