I interviewed Dr Zoltán Bihari, Head of the Research Institute for Viticulture and Oenology, Tokaj (RIVOT) about the past and present of the institute and its building.
The first mentions of Tarcal date back to the 1100s, with Coloman, King of Hungary holding an assembly there. Grape and wine production had already begun in the area, and presumably the foundations of the cellar housing the institute were also laid around this time. In the second half of the 1600s, the Zekeméri Curia was burned down by raiding Turks. At the beginning of the 18th century, only the stone walls were standing without a roof of any kind; this is how the Rákóczi family inherited the place. Many legends surround the Rákóczi Cellar; this name is still in use today and originates from that period. It is said that the cellar was connected with both the Rákóczi Castle in Sárospatak and the Szerencs Castle. It was rumoured that Rákóczi fled in this cellar system on horseback with his horse’s shoes on backwards. After the war of independence was lost, the estate once again became royal property.
At the end of 1748, Count Antal Grassalkovich, based on his personal experience, made a separate motion to Maria Theresa on the joining of the vineyards and the creation of model farms of uniform estates in Tarcal. After the vineyards were established, it became necessary to construct facilities for processing and storing the harvest. The wine house was built on the spot and using the remaining stone walls of the old, derelict Zeleméri mansion in order to store and process the grapes produced in the Szarvas vineyard, Ördög, Murat, Kisványa, Mondolás and Előhegy areas. The plans of the Baroque building were implemented without any significant changes.
It is assumed that the building was renovated during the 19th century. The cellar also played an important role in diplomatic life as Franz Joseph I of Austria (1848-1916) sent a bottle of aszú wine from the royal cellar of Tarcal as a birthday gift to Queen Victoria, Queen of England (1837-1901) every year.
The Experimental Station was founded in Tarcal in 1872 together with the Cellarman Training Institute which became the Hungarian Viticultural Training School (Hungarian Royal Vocational School of Viticulture and Oenology) a year later. It focused on the education of the “vine cultivating community” of Tokaj-Hegyalja and spreading the new technologies. The Training School performed its task superbly, offering high quality education. What’s more, it played a significant role in the battle against phylloxera and the subsequent reconstruction.
The Research Institute for Viticulture and Oenology started operation in 1949 with its head office in Budapest and nine establishments in the countryside (one of them in Tarcal). The central facility is the Rákóczi Wine House with a vineyard area in Szarvas vineyard with 33.6 cadastral hectares of productive and 6.5 cadastral hectares of non-productive vineyard. Later on, the vineyard grew by 15.5 cadastral hectares in the Pethő vineyard in Tolcsva, and in 1952 in Tarcal the lands around Szarvas vineyard were also added and by 1961 the area of productive vineyard had reached 81 cadastral hectares. The central facility housed the offices. A cellar with an excellent micro-climate was accessible to the institute, which had previously served imperial and royal purposes.
RIVOT was founded under this name in 2011, not as the legal successor but as a kind of intellectual heir to the old schools and institutions. The basic aims have remained unchanged: breeding varieties, clonal selection, education, giving expert advice, and researching new technologies and diseases. The Institute also has good connections with German and Italian universities. Obviously, other research institutes also publish periodicals, but I am especially fond of their monthly electronic publication, The Grape Leaf (Szőlőlevél).
The researchers do not carry out research just for themselves; therefore, this must be circulated in every possible way, says Zoltán Bihari.
This periodical is published to provide an insight into the scientific work and events at the Research Institute and to provide an overview of the latest research results in international viniculture and oenology. Besides, it is thought important to teach about the cultural history of Tokaj-Hegyalja. We have the breeders at the Institute to thank for the varieties Kabar (Tarcal-10, Bouvier x Hárslevelű) and Zéta (previously Oremus, Bouvier x Furmint), for instance.
During the interview, it was hard to miss the similarities between the fates of the building and the school. The only difference was that instead of the Turks, it was the Soviets who came, conquered and then everything had to be rebuilt. The same happened to the collection of varieties which was destroyed twice over the years. The current collection is composed of 65 indigenous varieties and the basic collection of yeasts has also been expanded to over 2,000 with some own yeasts (being tested at the moment) to strengthen the terroir.
The cellar which belongs to the harvesting house has four parallel branches with a current length of 750 metres. The cellar was used for research, and many walled-off branches were found which are planned to be reopened in the future. Today you can find 200-230-litre barrels from Szerednye – which are a bit larger than the Gönc barrels – in the larger branches, although these barrels are no longer used for storage, only serving decorative purposes. The storage capacity of the cellar is 5,900 hl in 1980 wooden barrels, and if you make an appointment in advance, you can also taste the wine.
I am really sad that its adventurous past prevented an illustrious and well-established institute from being born. This is most obvious when you see the difficulties clonal selection and genetic mapping face. Only our grandchildren will really benefit from today’s research.
However, I sincerely hope they will become an internationally acknowledged research institute serving Tokaj-Hegyalja, receiving support from producers and the state alike.
RIVOT
Address: Könyves Kálmán utca 54., H-3915 Tarcal, Hungary
Phone: +36 47 380 148
Email: info@tarcalkutato.hu
