Address: 8478 Somlójenő, Somló hegy 1242.
The wine shop is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00 

Restaurant opening hours, menu: click here.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

WINE SHOP & WINE ORDER +36 70 339 9822

RESTAURANT & TABLE RESERVATION +36 70 339 9821

EVENTS +36 70 663 6641

ADMINISTRATION +36 70 339 9828

Awards

One award may be due to chance, the result of a lucky vintage. But ongoing awards and accolades are a guarantee of consistently high quality. We are proud of our achievements at the most significant national and international competitions. It is a special source of pride that we have received the highest recognition of the most influential wine competition in the world, the London International Wine Challenge Trophy Award, four times, which is a unique achievement in Hungary.

Our story

Endre Tornai, the founder, started viticulture and winemaking in 1946 on a 2.5 acre plantation. Today, the estate is 170 acres, and the third generation is already involved in the work. In addition to respecting traditions, we use the most modern viticulture and grape processing technologies, and innovation is a constant element of our 75-year history. Our wines are offered in several European and American Michelin-starred restaurants and perform excellently at major domestic and international competitions year after year. Are you ready for a long and exciting journey? Let's go!

Our story

Endre Tornai, the founder, started viticulture and winemaking in 1946 on a 2.5 acre plantation. Today, the estate is 170 acres, and the third generation is already involved in the work. In addition to respecting traditions, we use the most modern viticulture and grape processing technologies, and innovation is a constant element of our 75-year history. Our wines are offered in several European and American Michelin-starred restaurants and perform excellently at major domestic and international competitions year after year. Are you ready for a long and exciting journey? Let's go!

Beginnings
Returning from the war, Endre Tornai marries Linka at Christmas in 1945, and the young couple moves to the Somló Hill. They buy two and a half acres of neglected old vineyard by the Séd spring and start their life together with great zest. Soon Ágnes is born, followed by Zsuzsanna, and the family thrive nicely year by year. But in the early 1950s communist power deprives them of almost all their wealth. They also lose their home, and they have to move to Sümeg, to live in a room designated for them in the house of Baron Jeszenszky. This is how a baroness became the nurse of Tamás, born in 1953, who then grows up in the repurchased family home in Apácatorna from the age of two. From here, the children go by bike to work to the vineyard on the hill.

Growth
From 1962, they are the first to plant cordon training grape vines on Somló hill, and the plantations are irrigated with water from the Séd spring. In 1974, the cellar is rebuilt and a well is drilled. At the 1976 harvest, five grandchildren have already joined the family, and they are all happy with Tamás's innovation, the well-functioning grape destemmer. The praise gives him impetus, and  the young newly graduated agricultural mechanical engineer further demonstrates his abilities by constructing a universal mini tractor corresponding to the size of the grape row spacing, and then the electric hydraulic press with adjustable pressure. This is much more than DIY. Competence, hard work and self-developed tools yield results, and they win wine competitions one after the other.

The 80s, the wind of change
Endre Tornai is starting to do something unusual again in the Communist ruled country. He bottles the 1983 vintage Olaszrizling under his own name and markets it himself. The next vintages are already offered on board the Hungarian Airlines’ flights and in reputable hotels in the capital. In 1986, he is elected as a Member of Parliament against the official candidate of the Communist Party. In this way, he successfully fights in Parliament for the elimination of triple taxation of private farmers, by the end of 1987.

Market economy and renewal
After the fall of the Soviet system, the estate began to develop rapidly.
1995. With the purchase of an ailing business, 40 acres of vineyards from the best area of Somló, the old church area, are transferred to Tornai Winery. They are at the forefront of the boosting of the Juhfark variety.
1999. Year of major investment: the first cold soaking and reductive winemaking, a 5.000 hl storage space, the first automatic bottling facility and laboratory on Somló hill.
2001. After many domestic awards, the first major international recognition, is the Montreal gold. It is difficult to list how many have followed.
2005. Another significant step: even more gentle grape processing technology, and an additional 5.000 hl of storage space, including 600 hl of barrel aging space, and a bottle aging space next to it.
And development does not stop there. In addition to respecting traditions and the past, there is still an experimental spirit, a desire to acquire new knowledge. In parallel with the wine investments, Tornai Winery gets its current appearance in 2010, which the founder Endre Tornai was able to see before passing away in 2011 after his 65th harvest.
His dream is fulfilled by his son, Tamás Tornai, who still manages the cellar, but the third generation, Eszter Tornai and Anna Tornai, are also participating in the work.
Today, Tornai Winery is the largest family estate on Somló hill. We grow grapes on 170 aces, mainly in the southern areas of the hill. The winery is both a modern processing and wine tourism center. It is a permanent venue for professional meetings, viticultural and wine events. It maintains contacts with several domestic and foreign universities and research institutes, and many professionals have started their successful professional careers here.

Wine-making

For reductive wine-making, after gentle processing, we use stainless steel tanks. After the best, selected raw materials have been cold soaked for 12 hours, they are fermented in 500 liter oak barrels, then aged for 8-10 months.

Wine-making

For reductive wine-making, after gentle processing, we use stainless steel tanks. After the best, selected raw materials have been cold soaked for 12 hours, they are fermented in 500 liter oak barrels, then aged for 8-10 months.

Our cellar was built in several stages. Its capacity is several times the annual production, which gives the opportunity for longer-than-usual natural sedimentation, maturation, and a reduction in the number of filtrations. The more complex content of our wines is the result of less filtration and longer maturation. We have a total of 99 tanks in the cellar, with a capacity of 9,000 hl, of which 4,200 hl can be cooled. We have 74 oak barrels made solely of Hungarian oak and roasted according to the needs of Tornai Winery. These 5 hl wooden barrels and the 15-210 hectoliter tanks allow us to process and mature even small amounts separately, but it is also possible to make larger amounts with the same composition. It makes the winemaker’s job easier, and also offers the opportunity to make truly unique wines. We have our own bottling plant, where we also bottle the wine of many producers of the wine region.

Method of grape processing:
The process takes place without pumps, with a so-called “vertical” method, which we do with our self-developed, horizontal tools.  You can read more about the unique method here.

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Somló and Juhfark

Somló Juhfark is a perfect match between variety and terroir. The specialty of the hill is best expressed by Juhfark, and vice versa: the varietal characteristics of Juhfark are best shown on Somló. The result is a complex, mineral, inimitable wine.

Somló and Juhfark

Somló Juhfark is a perfect match between variety and terroir. The specialty of the hill is best expressed by Juhfark, and vice versa: the varietal characteristics of Juhfark are best shown on Somló. The result is a complex, mineral, inimitable wine.

Somló is one of the most unique wine regions in the world. In addition to the fact that the special volcanic, slightly salty, vibrant taste of Somló is perfectly displayed by Juhfark, this variety also has many faces: it can be reductive, it can be sophistically elegant, it can be aged in barrels for many years, it may have residual sugar and can be even sweet. But no matter what style it is made in, it always has the inimitable character of Somló.

Juhfark gets close to the top at the age of 2-3 and stays on top for several years. This is due to its acids, rich content and relatively high alcohol. The uniqueness of the variety and its cooperation with the terroir are also appreciated by international experts: Juhfark from Somló has excelled in major world competitions. An example: at the International Wine Challenge in London, the most rigorously judged wine competition in the world, Tornai Winery has received the highest recognition, the Trophy Award, four times in recent years, three times for Juhfark wine. (About the relevance of this competition: yearly 15,000 entries from 50 countries, tasted by three independent panels of judges of international wine experts, only 1% receive the highest recognition.)

Yet it is not easy to get the best out of Juhfark. It is a thin-skinned, difficult-to-grow grape that requires a lot of attention. Its cluster is compact, the upper part is wide, then thins rapidly, and turns back at the bottom (it is named after its shape, Juhfark means "sheep's tail"). The dawn mist remains on it, and if you don’t pay attention to it, the berries start to rot.

But it is not only the health of the cluster that must be taken care of: if it is not properly formed already as a grape, it gives a wine with too high alcohol content or acidity. Properly handled, however, it has incredible potential.

Juhfark grapes are also produced in smaller quantities elsewhere in Hungary, but its homeland is Somló. It was born here, it feels best here, and it played a decisive role in making Somló wine one of the greatest in Europe for centuries. But because it required special care, it did not fit into the mass production model of the socialist system. By the 80s of the last century, there was only a little left of it, and Juhfark wine was not available on the market. It was taken out of the national catalogue of the varieties. However, the most determined winemakers of Somló insisted on it, and in the momentum of the regime change, they did their best to get it back among the supported varieties.

Among them was Endre Tornai and his son Tamás. In 1995, they purchased an old Juhfark plantation, where they carried out a variety selection with four years of work. That is, for four years, before harvest, they marked the grapevines whose fruit was perfectly satisfactory and were found worthy of propagation based on cluster shape, flavor, condition, and vitality. From the vines that performed prominently in all four years, grafts were made. This is how the official Juhfark plantation (a state-recognized, uniform, variety-identical plantation, suitable for propagation) was established on Somló, and the variety was propagated from here.

Somló is a small wine region and Juhfark is almost exclusively made here, which makes it even more valuable, as the sophisticated consumer around the world is looking for special, limited wines that cannot be reproduced elsewhere.

By clicking here, you can learn more about our wines and buy them, even with free home delivery.

Viticulture

The basis of winemaking is the special qualitiy raw materials, which work in symbiosis with their entire environment. They are not created by us, but rather by the grape, and the plant -  in other words, nature. Our job is to help the plant adapt to the terroir as much as possible, which includes the soil, climate and topography.

Viticulture

The basis of winemaking is the special qualitiy raw materials, which work in symbiosis with their entire environment. They are not created by us, but rather by the grape, and the plant -  in other words, nature. Our job is to help the plant adapt to the terroir as much as possible, which includes the soil, climate and topography.

The total area of the Tornai winery is currently 170 acres, of which the active, productive plantation is 140 acres, whereas planting and preparation are carried out on 20 acres. Our main variety is clearly the Juhfark, but other traditional grape varieties are also important to us: Furmint, Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű, Tramini, and we are happy to take care of the other indigenous variety of Somló, the Csomorika. In response to the changes of the market, we introduced the highly successful Hungarian varieties, the Pinot Gris, the Zeusz, the Zenit and the Irsai Olivér to Somló.

Our Vineyards

Somló is characterized by the soil formed from volcanic rocks, which gives our wines the distinctive mineral taste of Somló. The location of the slopes and the optimal climatic conditions create the opportunity to harvest good quality, ripe grapes.

Our Vineyards

Somló is characterized by the soil formed from volcanic rocks, which gives our wines the distinctive mineral taste of Somló. The location of the slopes and the optimal climatic conditions create the opportunity to harvest good quality, ripe grapes.

A special feature of the hill is that grapes are grown on all sides, including the north-facing slopes. The vineyards of Tornai Winery extend from the south-eastern side (on the border of the villages Doba and Borszörcsök) to the western side (the Somlószőlős and Somlójenő administrative areas)

The Somló

Somló is a 435-meter-high volcanic mountain in Veszprém county, Hungary, which stands out from the plains. Its name dates back to a time when a dogwood (som in Hungarian) forest was still covering its slopes. In addition to the quality and rich taste of the Somló wine, it has become known and recognized throughout the world because it was one of the rare white wines that could be transported without damage.

The Somló

Somló is a 435-meter-high volcanic mountain in Veszprém county, Hungary, which stands out from the plains. Its name dates back to a time when a dogwood (som in Hungarian) forest was still covering its slopes. In addition to the quality and rich taste of the Somló wine, it has become known and recognized throughout the world because it was one of the rare white wines that could be transported without damage.

Thanks to its special volcanic terroir, the indigenous varieties and state-of-the-art winemaking process, Somló wine is once again ranked among the best in the world today. Somló wine is made exclusively from white grapes. The most common varieties in the wine region are Juhfark, Olaszrizling, Furmint, Hárslevelű and Tramini.