Heimann & Fiai

Szekszárd is one of Hungary’s red wine regions. This small county with 2,153 hectares of vineyards lies almost directly south of Budapest on the Transdanubian hills, about 70 km from both the Serbian and Croatian borders. Here, on loess and clay and in the right hands, winemakers have rediscovered kékfrankos (also known as Blaufränkisch) and kadarka and the wines are becoming increasingly elegant. Kardarka in particular is very suitable for fine wines with ageing potential. One of those rediscoverers is Zoltán Jr. who, after six years of study at Geisenheim, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Udine, gained broad international experience that gave him a completely new perspective on winemaking.

Family history in Szekszárd
After his studies, Zoltán Jr. had ample time between 2015 and 2018 to gain a lot of experience under the flag of his parents. The Heimann family was one of the first to buy vineyards in this region in 1990 – after the fall of the communist government in 1989. In 2004, Zoltán Sr. and Agnes took over the family business and then handed it over to their son Zoltán Junior (Zoli) who became head winemaker in 2015.

Personal conviction leads to a new name
However, during this educational period, Zoltán Jr.’s desire to make a different style of wine grew out of personal conviction. In 2018, he also managed to convince his parents of this and this led to the creation of Heimann & Fiai. From here, Zoltán Jr. now works exclusively with kadarka and kékfrankos and learns what works best for the vineyard. He continues to introduce many changes in both the vineyard and the cellar: a pure focus on indigenous grapes, organic certification and a pursuit of a more restrained style: no new oak, less wood aging, less alcohol, less winemaking, more terroir.

Heimann and Heimann & Fiai
This means that there are now two Heimann wineries. The famous Heimann with a rich history and Heimann & Fiai with a modern conviction and with wines made from kékfrankos and kadarka on large old oak, concrete and amphorae. Both wineries are run by Zoltán jr. who can pursue his dream through these two labels. In this way he preserves the traditions and the old values ​​and at the same time makes innovative wine, with an eye to the future.