Hegymagas sits in the Tapolca Basin at the foot of St. George Hill (Szent György-hegy), just 3.1 miles from Lake Balaton, and it lives for wine, food, and tradition. From spring to autumn the tiny village swells several times over, a seasonal surge fueled by day-trippers chasing volcanic wines and long, hazy views. In 2026, the calendar leans into that momentum with fresh markets, dawn-to-dusk tastings, and open doors at family cellars tucked into the southern slopes. It’s a cluster of programs spread across multiple venues in postcode 8265, with one simple idea: come, linger, taste, and keep discovering.
Dates, Beds, and Bites
January sets the tone. On Saturday, 2026.01.03., Hegymagas Market (Hegymagas Piac) returns in Hegymagas proper, a local market built for winter wanderers and curious palates. It brings together small producers, kitchen staples, and a sense of village rhythm you can feel in your bones. Accommodation is easy to find across guesthouses and vineyard stays, while food and drink pop up at tasting rooms, kitchens, and the market itself.
Spring shifts into festival mode. Mark your diary for 2026.06.06.–2026.06.07.: St. George Hill Until Dawn (Szent György-hegy hajnalig), the beloved night-into-morning wine weekend when slopes glow with cellar lights and the hill hums until dawn. Expect pours with altitude and long walks between terroirs, punctuated by views of the lake and basalt buttes. It’s the event locals tell you not to miss, and the one visitors use to understand why this hill obsesses winemakers.
Stay: Guesthouses Among the Vines
Base camp matters here. Kovács Guesthouse (Kovács Vendégház) in Hegymagas welcomes guests all year, a steady, straightforward choice that puts you within breathing distance of trails, cellars, and Balaton panoramas. Rooms book up fast around market days and festival weekends, so plan ahead if you’re aiming for the dawn spectacle or a long tasting route.
Cellars to Seek Out
St. George Hill’s (Szent György-hegy) cellars are the reason people trade beaches for basalt. On the hill, one boutique winery farms a compact 2×2 hectares (think four small plots) with precision and pride. The tiny scale is the point: every row gets attention, every bottle is intent. Unusually for the region, they spotlight reds, drawing out structure and spice from volcanic soils. Book in advance for a two-hour visit built around a six-wine flight that cherry-picks the best from the estate. It’s intimate and guided, the sort of tasting that rewires your expectations about Balaton reds.
A family-run estate works 20 hectares on the southern slopes, pairing winegrowing with agrotourism and offering stays in guesthouses between rows of vines. Morning light across the hill, evenings with a glass on the terrace—it’s a full-immersion version of St. George Hill (Szent György-hegy) that blurs the line between visiting and living here.
If you like your wine artisanal and your setting pocket-sized, seek out the hill’s smallest cellars. One tiny producer aims for handcrafted, delicate bottles from the site’s signature varieties, serving tastings that feel less like a flight and more like a slow conversation. Think texture, nuance, and a mood that sticks with you long after you leave.
Volcanic Energy in the Glass
Gilvesy’s volcanic wines have set a tone since owner Róbert Gilvesy founded the winery in 2012. Minerality is the headline, but there’s a quiet confidence behind it—clean lines, assured aromatics, and a sense of place that reads unmistakably St. George Hill (Szent György-hegy). The wine shop (Vinotéka) sells during opening hours or by arrangement and delivers; tasting programs are organized on request, which means you can shape an afternoon around a theme or variety.
Hegymagas is also home to a classic family cellar with a white-wine heartbeat. Expect Welschriesling (olaszrizling), Müller-Thurgau (rizlingszilváni), Zengő, Traminer (tramini), Rhine Riesling (rajnai rizling), Chardonnay, and Rózsakő—grapes that speak the regional dialect of crispness and sap. It’s the lineup you want for a clear day with a long view, chasing citrus, stone fruit, and spice across the glass.
On the southern face, Horváth Cellar (Horváth Pince) has welcomed wine lovers since 1996 and now tends 18 hectares. The cellar combines modern processing with patient barrel aging for select wines, balancing freshness with depth. It’s a good place to sense the region’s present and past in one pour—steel for precision, wood for time and breath.
Closer to two local landmarks—the Tarányi Cellar (Tarányi Pince) and the Lengyel Chapel—the Nyári Cellar (Nyári Pince) waits with both tank wines and bottled selections, plus a stellar lookout. Tastings run by reservation; the stroll alone is worth it, especially at golden hour when the lake throws light back at the hill.
Year-Round Wine Shop, Seasonal Kitchen
The St. George Hill (Szent György-hegy) estate wine shop is open daily all year, a reliable anchor for supplies, gifts, and last-minute inspiration. From spring to autumn, the revamped estate center hosts the Viridárium kitchen, drawing gastro and wine tourists with a seasonal menu that speaks the local language—nothing fussy, just well-judged, vineyard-friendly food. It’s the ideal pivot when you’ve tasted your way across a slope and need a plate to match the glass.
Plan, Book, Wander
Organizers reserve the right to change dates and programs, so double-check before you set out, especially around festival weekends and winter market days. The best approach is simple: book tastings ahead, pace your climbs, and leave room for detours. St. George Hill (Szent György-hegy) rewards wandering, and Hegymagas knows how to host—market mornings, cellar afternoons, and Balaton twilights that make you want to stay another day.
