Gróf Degenfeld Castle Hotel & Winery
Tokaj Region

Brief history of the Degenfeld Family

The Degenfeld family has been a part of Hungarian and central Europe’s history since the 13th century. With ties to both German and Transylvanian nobility the it was in 1800 when the family first settled in what is eastern Hungary / Transylvania.

The son of Maximilian, Imre (1810-1883) founded the Hungarian branch of the Degenfeld family. His grandson Count Pál Degenfeld did not have an heir, so he adopted Count Sándor Degenfeld from the Transylvanian branch, so Sándor inherited the family’s Hungarian estates in Téglás, Baktalórántháza and in Tokaj. Count Sándor Degenfeld is the father of the present owner of the Tarcal Wine Estate, Countess Marie von Degenfeld.

Brief history of the Gróf Degenfeld Castle Hotel & Winery

The primary building and the wine production facilities were built in 1873 within a national project which was created to support wine making after the phylloxera crisis. The phylloxera (root louse disease) had come to Europe continent from America via the Vitis aestivalis (summer grape), and since 1863 it had been threatening Europe’s vineyards. In the 19th century, the castle served as an institute for the education of viticulture, and thus it helped the survival of the vineyards and of wine-making in this difficult period.

In 1857 Count Imre (Emmerich) Degenfeld founded a society of the best wine makers in the region with the purpose of regulating the quality of the wines of the Tokaj wine region. This community was called the Tokaj Hill Wine Makers’ Society (Tokaj-hegyaljai Bormívelő Egyesület) and taught generations of winemakers on the property.

Degenfeld wine-production continued until the Communist forces took control of Hungary in 1947. The Degenfeld land and wine production became the property of the state and was returned to the family in 1995. The current Countess (Marie von Degenfeld) purchased the building which housed the wine-making academy and renovated the property to serve as a country home for the family. In 2003, the hotel opened to the public and guests have been visiting ever sense.

What kind of wines are produced at the winery?

In the Tokaj Region only six traditional types of grapes can be raised. They are all white vines, and the three most important ones are the Furmint, the Hárslevelű and the Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc). The Gróf Degenfeld winery makes organic, fresh wines out of these three, and they also offer a wide selection of wines fermented in barrels made primarily from Hungarian oak. Besides the dry and semi-dry wines, they also make late harvest wines, like the world famous Tokaji Aszú, and the sweet Szamorodni.

In the 20 years or so they have been experimenting with a traditionally fermented Furmint sparkling wine and several other varieties of sparkling wine. 

We’ll be trying many of the Gróf Degenfeld wines at our wine dinners at the hotel. We’ll also be visiting the wine cellar and winery with the sommelier to learn about how the wine is made and stored.

Want to learn more about the Tokaj Wine Region? Check out this article from Underground Europe.