On September 12, 2026, the Hajós Cellar Village (Hajósi Pincefalu) swings its gates wide for the Szüreti Pincenyitogató, a harvest-season cellar opening packed with open-cellar tastings, a bustling makers’ market, and even a running race winding through the lanes of Central Europe’s largest cellar village. While you were on holiday, the vines kept working; now it’s time to pick, pour, and clink glasses to a year’s worth of graft in freshly stocked cellars. Spend a bright, buzzy day in Hajós and celebrate the crop the way locals have for generations, among rows of press houses and cool, echoing tunnels under loess banks.
Where wine lives and people follow
The Hajós Cellar Village (Hajósi Pincefalu) is a one-of-a-kind attraction in Europe: about 1,200 wine cellars carved into loess, each a house where only wine resides. Many run 20–70 feet long, holding a steady 50–57°F year-round—perfect for maturing serious bottles. The cellar village, a few miles from Hajós, is the shining gem of the Hajós–Baja wine region, drawing day-trippers and dedicated oenophiles in every season. The town itself lies in southern Hungary, 12 miles from Kalocsa, and wears its Swabian heritage on its sleeve—around 85% of residents trace roots to German settlers invited here after the Ottoman era by Archbishop Count Imre Csáky. Those families planted vines on the Danube’s loess ridges and dug their cool sanctuaries beneath.
Full-spectrum winemaking, generous hospitality
Families here run the whole chain of viticulture and vinification: growing grapes, processing, bottling, and selling, often from estates that keep expanding with every vintage. One family cultivates 29 hectares, growing steadily, and pours an array that ranges from classic Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos) and Zweigelt to Cabernet Sauvignon and the head-turning aromatic Cserszegi fűszeres. At Hársch Pince, house staples include Muscat Ottonel (Ottonel Muskotály), Grüner Veltliner (Zöldveltelini), Kövidinka, Blaufränkisch rosé (Kékfrankos rosé), Zweigelt, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos)—wines that speak the dialect of these loess hills with crisp acidity and clean fruit.
Visitors who love tasting wine where it’s made will find cellars and hosts ready to oblige. Sample whites and reds, then carry on to homestyle restaurants dishing up Swabian and Hungarian specialties. No need to rush off—pensions and inns across the village are waiting with rooms, warm service, and that extra bottle that keeps conversation rolling.
Sleep under the vines, wake to a buffet
The Kellermotel Wine and Hunting House (Kellermotel Bor- és Vadászház) offers stylish, atmospheric stays right in the cellar village. Expect spacious, well-equipped rooms and a wellness and fitness wing for a quiet reset after a day of tastings. Mornings start with a generous buffet: fresh pastries, coffee, tea, and juices for all. With the forests and fields around Hajós brimming with game and sweeping views, hunters and hikers alike are urged to explore the landscape between cellar visits.
Modern tech, old souls
Cellar by cellar, you’ll see how tradition meets innovation. There’s a steady push to modernize alongside time-honored grape handling and fermentation. As vineyards grow, so do the cellars. Many operate as full family ventures with decades of continuity, weaving grandparents’ methods into today’s clean, controlled techniques. One convivial cellar on Hajós Road prides itself on blending seasoned know-how with youthful energy—and on never letting a guest leave hungry or, worse, thirsty.
Come for the story, stay for the company
In the heart of Kádár Street (Kádár utca), a cavernous lower cellar seats 108 for tastings, gatherings, and club nights, backed by a sunlit Wine Terrace (Borterasz) outside with room for another 240 across garden benches. There’s space for outdoor cooking and grilling, so long lunches easily become late dinners. Some friends who bought their first Hajós cellar in 2009 now keep a 750-square-foot press house and a 115-foot tunnel with 14 barrels and roughly 1,056 ounces of wine—though it doesn’t last long once festival season begins.
Pilgrimage roots and local lore
In the center of Hajós, the Pilgrim House (Zarándokház) exhibition space tells the story of the town’s baroque shrine and the miraculous healings tied to the statue of Mary. Browse the Hungarian Pilgrim’s Way (Magyar Zarándokút) map and photos of nearby churches, and see how faith and pilgrimage still thread through daily life for the local Swabian community. It’s a fitting counterpoint to the vineyard rhythms—another set of paths people follow here, season after season.
The organizers reserve the right to change the schedule and timing.
