1994
FAMILY ESTATE
The owner Kovács family laid the foundations of the estate in 1994, but the strong relationship with viticulture and winemaking dates back much earlier. The paternal branch of the family has been connected to Csopak for almost two hundred years, while on the maternal branch connected to the Káli Basin. Both lines brought the love of nature and viticulture as well as the tradition of winemaking. From three brothers who represent the new generation of the family, Tamás runs the winery at one of the most beautiful sights of Csopak.
2002
ST. DONAT – THE ESTATE AND THE PATRON
The size of our estate in Csopak reached 3 hectares. The Balaton-styled main building and the first part of the underground cellar was built by Endre Szűcs, while the young vines meant 8-10 thousand bottles per year. The wine terrace in front of the cellar has become a beloved summer spot for many. The winery and the estate were named St. Donat after the patron saint of the vineyards of Csopak.
2006
CELLAR EXPANSION
As a result of the growing number of bottles and the expansion of the estate by one hectare every year, the cellar system was expanded with a new branch in 2006. The first selections of our single-vineyards were made and St.Donat wines appeared in the offer of the best Hungarian restaurants and foreign retailers.
2011
CODEX OF CSOPAK
Together with the leading winemakers of the area, the Codex of Csopak was created, a trademark protection system developed for the production of high-quality vineyards in Csopak. The winemaker of St. Donat estate – Tamás Kovács was one of the founders of the initiative and the administrator of the system.
2014
EXPANDING ESTATE
Beside Csopak, the estate was enriched with new plantations in Paloznak and Tihany. Beside the classic CSOPAK hill wine and Codex single-vineyard selections, the first MÁRGA and MAGMA soil selections of St. Donat were made from the vintage 2013.
2017
KÁLI BASIN – OUR NEW, VOLCANIC LOVE
The estate expanded with exciting volcanic vineyards and a new cellar in Szentbékkálla, on the slopes of Fekete-hegy. At the same time, we started to registrate our vineyards as organically cultivated areas. The estate had grown to 15 hectares, so we needed to expand the cellar again.
2020
WINES WITHOUT INTERVENTION
In recent years, we have paid great attention to cultivating our areas with sufficient sensitivity. Today, we farm organically on the entire estate and make wines with minimalizing intervention. In the spirit of that, we made an unfiltered sparkling wine with traditinal method for the first time, called 5BAR.