Located in the North-West of Hungary, on the northern shore of Lake Balaton, Les-hegy is a harsh, drought-stricken landscape with limestone soils, rugged terrain, abundant scorching sunshine, and a breathtaking view of Lake Balaton — a place seemingly created by God for growing grapes.

It is no coincidence that the Romans were already cultivating vineyards here, and this fine tradition has endured ever since: it survived the phylloxera epidemic and, though greatly tested, even the decades of communism.

The owner of the winery is Fruzsina Skrabski. People living on this hill have been making wine here for nearly 2,000 years.

When Fruzsi’s parents, Árpád Skrabski and Mária Kopp, discovered Les-hegy during a walk in 1970, only traces of vineyards remained, and the once beautiful press houses stood in ruins. At the last possible moment, they found a crumbling cellar, which they purchased and restored with their own hands. This is where the story of our winery began.

After her father’s passing, his daughter, Fruzsina Skrabski, and her husband continued the story. They worked to preserve the values of the place, restoring the ruins and replanting the vineyards.

Today, as one of the defining wineries of Les-hegy, we continue the work our predecessors began. It may forever remain a mystery who the true owner of this land is: us, or perhaps the spirit of Les-hegy itself — and we merely do what the hill asks of us.

We cultivate 12 hectares of our own vineyards, but we do not work exclusively with our own grapes. We also purchase carefully selected, high-quality grapes from other trusted growers.

In terms of cellar capacity, we have no intention of becoming a large-scale producer. Instead, we remain a small boutique winery focused on uncompromising quality. Our average annual production is currently around 60,000 bottles.

Our commitment to quality over quantity is the reason we deliberately limit our production volumes.

In 2024, we discovered that our wines can also be enjoyed by people with histamine sensitivity. That year, we had our wines laboratory-tested for the first time, which revealed extremely low — often below detectable limits — histamine levels. As a result, we became the first and, to date, only low-histamine winery in Hungary.

The common kestrel – the protective bird of our winery – appears on every one of our bottles.

When this story began, our winery was still very young. At that time, we did not yet understand how closely we would have to live together with nature compared to large-scale wine producers: our estate lies within a national park and is surrounded by forests on all sides.

That autumn, we decided to leave our Blaufränkisch grapes on one of our parcels for a late harvest. The bunches were ripening beautifully, and with just one more week of patience we hoped to make a perfect wine. However, when we went out to harvest, not a single grape remained on the vines – the birds had picked every cluster clean. We were heartbroken.

A kestrel appears in our emblem: on our national park estate, it protects the vineyards from starlings.

The following year, however, something changed. One afternoon, a young common kestrel appeared from the nearby forest belt – and then decided to stay. It hovered above the vineyards and, with its presence alone, kept the smaller birds away from the grapes. Our harvest was saved! Since that day, we have regarded it as our symbol.

The ink drawing of the kestrel was created for us by our friend, the painter Győző Somogyi.

Our cellar is located on Les-hegy, in the immediate vicinity of the vineyards. It is an original 150-year-old traditional earth-covered cellar with a reed roof, which we have significantly expanded underground and equipped with modern winemaking technology.

The cellar itself is not open for hospitality and can only be visited by professional partners. However, throughout the year we warmly welcome customers and visitors at our vinotheque located along Road 71, where our wines are bottled and sold.

We currently cultivate 12 hectares of productive vineyards. Most of our parcels are located on Les-hegy, a hillside offering a breathtaking panoramic view of Lake Balaton. This exceptional vineyard site, known for producing truly distinctive wines, is also the centre of our estate.

We currently farm 12 hectares of producing vineyards.

According to local legend, the hill received its name (“Les” meaning watch) because sharp-eyed young men once watched the waters of Lake Balaton from here to decide where fishing would be most successful. Others say this is the “Sahara of Lake Balaton”, as due to its unique topographical conditions this area receives the least rainfall around the lake. Our own experience confirms that this is indeed a very dry, hot, almost Mediterranean microclimate, where even pomegranate, fig, and rosemary thrive. The soils are extremely calcareous and stony – a terrain seemingly created for vines and almond trees. Les-hegy is shared by three villages: Balatonudvari, Dörgicse, and Balatonakali.

A smaller but excellent 2-hectare parcel of our estate is located in the Vörösmál vineyard in Balatonfüred.