What's a schizophrenic wine like? Any connection between alcohol and schizophrenia might sound striking, but the name has certainly paid off for Balázs Sike and Sándor Mező. Bortársaság keeps six of their basic wines and they have been experimenting with premium category items for a year now. We looked around at the SKIZO Winehouse in Badacsonytördemic.
We have found the two young winemakers in a constant bittersweet mood. That's nomen est omen for you: the duo in Badacsontördemic is highly preoccupied with the inconsistencies of wine sector. Both are employed by a large winery and have begun to piece together their own enterprise parallel to their full-time job. Industrial wine making vs. small vineyards cultivated by hand and defiance? Table wines vs. quality items? Modern vs. traditional grape cultivation? The name SKIZO (a reference to schizophrenia) in the case of Balázs and Sándor denotes the multiplicity of personalities and possible courses of action rather than a state of mind.
Being unquestionably proud of what they have created, they gave us a tour of the tiny, but all the more stylish shop and winetasting space at the front of the family home. The design and the wine labels are a compliment to the young team at Laboratory Digital. Thanks to the fact that their basic wines are well-positioned in terms of price and quality, and also to the youthful and strong image, they can retail the majority of their bottles through Bortársaság.
Their reductive, light wines are expressly popular: you might even bump into the Skizo Irsai, Rosé and White 2013, or the SKIZO Red 2012 at your average house party, because they are affordable, great for a spritzer and pleasant in themselves as well. For their primary bottles, they use a selection of grape varieties procured from their employer.
They started their enterprise with moderate capital and they don't want to resort to debt, so they are taking small steps forward.
They consider the Hungarian wine market incalculable: the weather and the actual trends are both hard to predict.
In addition to the colourful (sic!) line of basic wines, they are now working on the SK ("saját kézből", meaning: for one's own hand) selection. These personalized wines that are produced in small quantities are a compliment exclusively to the handiwork, and the heart and soul of Sándor and Balázs. The premium selection consists of three wines of their brand; these wines serve as the scene for the owners' passion for hands-on wine making.
Simplicity is the key to the wine making process of the latter items: only the most crucial interventions are allowed therein. The SK Kéknyelű 2012. the SK Welschriesling 2012 (a blend of Badacsony and Csobánc grapes, prepared with spontaneous fermentation, and aged in wooden barrels), and the sur lie SK Welschriesling 2012 Várvölgy (aged in steel tanks) are the first fruits of this great passion.
