The vineyard of “Határi” is believed to have mediaeval roots, although, there is no concrete information or written source to support this theory. The name “Határ” (which means border in Hungarian) refers to the fact that the vineyard was to be found on the border of two villages, Erdőbénye and Olaszliszka. Therefore, especially in the first half of the 17th century, it was often referred to in documents as “Két-Határ” (two borders). Despite its mediaeval origins, it was in the last third of the 16th century that the territory was first mentioned under the name of “Hatharzelew”. According to that source, at that time, the vineyard was owned by the king and was cultivated by residents of the town of Tolcsva, some of whom were the only owners of vineyards in that region, apart from the king, of course. In 1576, the estate of Sárospatak and thus the vineyards of Határ were acquired by the aristocratic Dobó family. In 1576, these lands were donated to the free royal city of Lőcse which took great pains to reclaim all the land belonging to the historical vineyard on the border of Erdőbénye and Olaszliszka. Surprisingly enough, the name “Határi” by which people today know this land is to be found first of all in a listing made by the estate of Sárospatak in 1657.
Lőcse, the free royal city, owned their territories without any break until the first third of the 17th century, when György Rákóczi I (1593-1648) confiscated these lands by force and gave Határi back to the estate of Sárospatak as a royal vineyard. All of this was confirmed by entries in the listing of the Rákóczi family’s properties in 1644 and 1648.
After the conspiracy of Wesselényi in 1670, many people’s lands were confiscated and redistributed, but none of this affected the Rákóczi family’s picturesque vineyards in Határi. In 1699, Julianna Rákóczi (1672-1717) and Ferenc Rákóczi (1676-1735) subdivided the family’s lands among themselves. It just so happened that Ferenc Rákóczi acquired the ownership of the vineyards of Sárospatak. However, following Rákóczi’s War of Independence in 1711, the rebellious monarch’s properties were seized by the Austrian Empire and donated to the Austrian Trautsohn family. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Trautsohns were ruled over by the aristocratic families of Breczenheim and Winsdichgratz. However, there were numerous small vineyard parcels cultivated by the residents of Erdőbénye, Olaszliszka and Tolcsva, all within the borders of Határi. Most of the vineyards remained in the hands of aristocratic families until the end of the Second World War.
