Somló, the smallest Hungarian wine-growing region, is located about one third of the way from Lake Balaton towards Sopron and the Austrian border. It surrounds the volcanic mountain of Somló, which provides ideal conditions and which was crowned by a castle in the Middle Ages, and mentioned by name as early as 1093. However, the first vines were most likely planted by the Romans.
In the 13th century settlers brought with them the Furmint, which is still one of the essential grape varieties of Somló. After the phylloxera catastrophe, the Welschriesling also became increasingly important. A peculiarity of Somló is that the vineyards surround the volcano, so that wine is also grown in a northern orientation.
The soil consists of volcanic rock, mixed in various places with loess, sand, brown earth and clay. The climate is temperate, with a cool spring, a measuredly warm summer and a long warm autumn. Overall, ideal conditions for white wine varieties, less so for red wine.
Somló today has a size of about 600 hectares, which is comparatively less than, say, the wine-growing region of Vienna, and is about the same size as the German areas of Ahr or Saale-Unstrut.
