BADACSONYTOMAJ, ESTERHÁZY CSÁNGÓ WINERY RECONSTRUCTION AND EXTENSION 2009
The Csángó Winery is located in Badacsonytomaj; the area belongs to the Balaton-felvidéki (Balaton Uplands) National Park. The history of the building and the estate is quite an accurate imprint of the 20th century history of the wine-growing areas and wine production at Badacsony:
“During World War I and in the aftermath, relying on the expertise of Italian prisoners of war, the Esterházy family – holding the largest vineyards of the region at that time - began to build up a rampart-supported terrace system in order to fully exploit the special climate of the mountain. Thanks to the proficiency of these prisoners of war, most of the walls are still standing today. Around this time, as a negative consequence of Badacsony's fame and reputation, the vineyards of the region began to break up into smaller parts. After World War II, the big estates were nationalized and the establishment of state farms saved the plantations from further fragmentation. The vineyards were adapted to mechanical cultivation - unfortunately this brought about the transformation of the site, the terrain itself. Huge terraces were created on the sloping hillsides, whereby the microclimate of the area was permanently altered and the rich topsoil developed over the millennia was razed. "
The cellar of the Csángó Winery was built at the beginning of the 1900s on a nearly square area bordered by rampart-like retaining walls. During Word War II it was used for military purposes, resulting in the collapse of the cellar system at several points. After the war, a state farm got the estate; the building and the cellars just below got renovated. A cistern with additional shafts and a workshop building were constructed on the north side of the main building and above the collapsed cellars in the south area, respectively.
Badacsonytomaj is the center of Balaton-felvidék (Balaton Uplands) and the Badacsony wine region; the grape and wine culture of the area is a significant part of our national heritage. With the reconstruction of the winery, our client - a wine producer with a long tradition – had the intention to encourage local wine tourism by maintaining the centuries-old wine making traditions of the town.
Above ground, the site and the main building were restored according to the original plans; the workshop was demolished to open up the panorama from the building towards Lake Balaton again. The basement level was increased within the area of the retaining walls to accommodate the requested capacity of grape processing technology.
Péter Kis, Róbert Erdélyi, Péter Romvári
Visualization by: Péter Romvári
