Hungarian wine in danger? New vine disease threatens the country – it may already be too late
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This year has brought one of the most severe crises in the history of Hungarian viticulture: flavescence dorée, a disease caused by a phytoplasma, is destroying vineyards across the country at an unprecedented scale. Of Hungary’s 22 wine regions, 15 are already affected, with thousands of hectares potentially infected. Even iconic vineyard sites such as Somló and Szentgyörgyhegy are now under threat.
What is causing the outbreak?
The disease is triggered by a phytoplasma pathogen spread by the American grapevine leafhopper, according to Agroinform. Once a vine is infected, its leaves turn yellow, wilt, and eventually the entire plant dies. Since there is currently no cure, the only way to slow its spread is to control the leafhopper population. Experience shows that the disease spreads rapidly: where there is today a single infected vine, in two or three years, the number can swell into the hundreds.
The first major victim: Bussay Winery
The Bussay Winery in Csörnyeföld, Zala County, offers a dramatic example of the devastation caused by this epidemic. For years, Dorottya Bussay and Tamás Kis had enhanced Zala’s reputation with their wines, but today, almost none of their vineyards remain. Their traminec plot was the first to be lost, followed by pinot noir and other varieties, leaving only their merlot and a few olaszrizling vines holding out longer.
“In 2025, most of the vineyards in the settlement collapsed. From next year, we won’t have a single vine left; we’ll have to uproot everything,” wrote Dorottya Bussay in a letter to fellow winemakers at the Pannon Bormíves Guild. According to her, despite repeatedly warning about the growing problem, the winery received neither compensation nor sufficient support.
