István Szepsy Jr

The Climb

István Szepsy Jr is today the winemaker of Szent Tamás Winery. In Tokaj, that role is not only about making wine; it is about reading a region that has long carried a defined reputation and helping it speak in a dry style. The work in Mád is exacting, because every choice in the cellar sits inside a larger argument about what the area should express. Precision matters here because identity matters.

Today

Szepsy Jr manages the winery with his sister Gabriella, while continuing as its winemaker. That arrangement gives the estate both continuity and pace. The family structure holds the daily work of production while the cellar practices stay oriented toward a clearer reading of Mád. In that sense, modernity is not treated as a break with the past but as a way of making the values of the place more legible in the glass. His focus on dry Tokaj, especially Furmint, places him inside the broader effort to define a style that is contemporary without losing its local register. He has also framed the task beyond the winery door. “And the most important is to position Tokaj in the world.” That is the external part of the job: not only making wines that work within the region, but helping the region be understood more widely. In that framework, Furmint becomes a marker, dry Tokaj a category with content, and Mád a name that has to carry weight.

Signature

István's signature wines include Szamorodni Sweet 2013, Szepsy 100 Úrágya 2015, MÁD Furmint 2015, MÁD Late Harvest 2014, and Szent Tamás 2013. Taken together, these bottles map a range of decisions: sweet and dry, site-specific and house-level, tradition and refinement held in the same frame.

In Their Words “Our aim is to introduce new techniques and winemaking methods to the wines of the area whilst remaining true to the real values of the area.” “One of the problems is that the leading products of the wine region have not been defined.”

Recognition

The recognition around Szepsy Jr’s work comes through the problems he has taken on: defining the leading products of the Tokaj wine region, bringing formal oenological training into a family cellar, and working with ancient volcanic vineyards in the revival of Mád Crus. What is notable is direction rather than decoration. As a winemaker, he is part of the ongoing effort to shape dry Tokaj, especially Furmint, through a mix of new methods and inherited knowledge. The aim is clarity of place, not novelty for its own sake.