Made ByWinery

Szent Tamás Winery

Chef in Residence

István Szepsy Jr

Winemaker

01CityMád, Hungary

Szent Tamás Winery sits on Hunyadi János utca in the heart of Mád, one of Tokaj's most concentrated addresses for serious Aszú production. Holder of a Pearl 2 Star Prestige award in 2025, the estate positions itself alongside Mád's tighter cohort of classification-grade producers. For visitors tracking the region's upper tier, it represents a direct encounter with the volcanic terroir that defines the appellation's reputation.

At a glance

Price: $$$
Per person: $65
Neighborhood: Mád

<h2>Volcanic Ground, Stone Walls, and the Mád Terroir</h2><p>Arriving in Mád from the direction of Tokaj town, the village announces itself slowly: a road flanked by low hills whose soil shifts from dark loam to pale, ash-coloured clay as you approach the historic centre. By the time you reach Hunyadi János utca, the architecture has closed in, stone cellars, thick-walled estates, and the quiet that characterises a village whose economy has, for centuries, been measured in harvests rather than footfall. Szent Tamás Winery sits on this street, at Mád, Hunyadi János u. 3, 3909.</p><p>The physical context here matters more than it does at most European wine addresses. Mád sits at the western edge of the Tokaj wine region, a UNESCO World Heritage zone, and its vineyards are defined by rhyolite tuff and zeolite-rich soils formed from ancient volcanic activity. That geology is directly legible in the wines: lower yields, concentrated fruit, and an acidity that holds the sugar in Aszú bottlings in check. Producers on this side of the appellation, and Szent Tamás is among them, are operating with raw material that has shaped the region's international standing since the seventeenth century.</p><h2>Where Szent Tamás Sits in Mád's Producer Hierarchy</h2><p>Mád has, over the past two decades, become the village most associated with classification-level ambition in Tokaj. The concentration of high-commitment estates here is without parallel in the appellation: <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/szepsy-mad-winery">Szepsy</a>, whose single-vineyard bottlings set the benchmark for the region's most demanding collectors, operates from the same village. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/royal-tokaji-mad-winery">Royal Tokaji</a>, which helped reestablish the region's international credibility after 1990, and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/barta-pince-mad-winery">Barta Pince</a>, respected for its dry Furmint programme, both operate here. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/holdvolgy-mad-winery">Holdvölgy</a> and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/zsirai-winery-mad-winery">Zsirai Winery</a> round out a comparable set that consistently draws wine writers and buyers who treat Mád as the region's most reliable address for serious production.</p><p>Within that competitive set, Szent Tamás holds a Pearl 2 Star Prestige rating awarded in 2025. That recognition places it above entry-level producer status and into a tier where cellar craft, vineyard sourcing, and stylistic consistency are the operative variables. For a visitor working through Mád's producer landscape, it functions as a mid-to-upper reference point: demanding enough to reward serious attention, and positioned below the micro-allocation end of the market that Szepsy occupies.</p><p>For broader Tokaj regional context, producers operating in different communes offer useful comparison. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/disznoko-mezozombor-winery">Disznókő in Mezőzombor</a> operates at scale with AXA Millésimes investment behind it. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/tokaj-oremus-tolcsva-winery">Tokaj Oremus in Tolcsva</a> brings Vega Sicilia ownership and a reputation for long-aged Aszú. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/tokaj-hetszolo-tokaj-winery">Tokaj Hétszőlő in Tokaj</a> works from one of the appellation's historic classified vineyards. Each represents a different ownership model and stylistic approach; Szent Tamás, rooted in Mád, belongs to the village-centred, terroir-specific strand of the region's current quality narrative.</p><h2>The Tokaj Appellation and Why Mád's Address Matters</h2><p>Understanding why a Mád address carries weight requires understanding how Tokaj's quality geography actually functions. The region spans twenty-seven villages across the Zemplén foothills, but not all villages carry equal terroir significance. Mád's volcanic soils, combined with the specific microclimate created by the Szerelmi, Nyulászó, Királyföld, and Betsek vineyard sites, produce conditions that favour the controlled botrytis development essential to Aszú production. The incidence of noble rot here is more predictable and more concentrated than in flatter, lower-altitude parts of the appellation.</p><p>That terroir specificity is why the classification debates within Tokaj, ongoing since the region's classification system began to be reconsidered in the post-communist period, consistently return to Mád's vineyard sites as anchors. International buyers who track the region treat first-growth Mád vineyards the way Burgundy buyers treat premier and grand cru designations: as a proxy for geological advantage, not just brand recognition. Producers who source from these sites, or who own parcels within them, are signalling something concrete about their raw material.</p><p>Visitors who want to track this geography directly should note that Mád's producers are relatively concentrated geographically, which makes a structured tasting visit across several estates in a single day practical. The village is roughly forty kilometres from Miskolc and accessible from Budapest by train to Szerencs followed by local transport, or by car via the M3 motorway. Booking ahead at individual estates is advisable, particularly in September and October when harvest activity compresses availability.</p><h2>Placing Szent Tamás in a Wider Hungarian Wine Picture</h2><p>Hungary's wine regions beyond Tokaj are increasingly visible in international markets, and a visitor building a broader picture of the country's production might extend their itinerary. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/arvay-winery-ratka-winery">Árvay Winery in Rátka</a> operates within the Tokaj appellation but from a different commune, offering a point of comparison within the same region. Outside Tokaj entirely, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/beres-winery-erdobenye-winery">Béres Winery in Erdőbénye</a> sits in the foothills and has built a reputation for dry varietal wines alongside its sweet programme. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/babarczi-winery-gyor-winery">Babarczi Winery in Győr</a> represents the Pannonhalma appellation, a region whose Riesling and Tramini are attracting attention from buyers who came to Hungary through Tokaj and are now working outward. For red wine production, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/bock-winery-villany-winery">Bock Winery in Villány</a> operates in the country's most credible Bordeaux-variety zone, where the warmest growing conditions in Hungary produce structured Cabernet Franc and Merlot blends.</p><p>For comparative context beyond Hungary, the allocation-model approach to premium wine production seen at Mád's upper tier has parallels in regions as distant as Napa Valley, where <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/accendo-cellars">Accendo Cellars in St. Helena</a> operates on small-production principles, or in Speyside, where <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/aberlour-aberlour-winery">Aberlour</a> represents the kind of heritage-site production that attracts similar collector attention in a different category entirely.</p><h2>Planning a Visit</h2><p>Szent Tamás Winery is located at Hunyadi János utca 3, Mád 3909. The estate is appointment only, so arranging a visit in advance is essential. Visits are best arranged in advance.</p><hr></hr>

Know before you go

Dress code: smart_casual
Reservations: appointment_only
Parking: on_site_lot
Payment: credit_card, cash
Outdoor seating: Yes
Groups: Welcomed

Frequently asked

Where is Szent Tamás Winery located?

Szent Tamás Winery is located at Mád, Hunyadi János u. 3, 3909, Mád.

What recognition does Szent Tamás Winery have?

Szent Tamás Winery has received recognition including: Pearl 2 Star Prestige (2025).

What wines is Szent Tamás Winery known for?

Szent Tamás operates within the Tokaj appellation in Mád, where Furmint is the dominant variety and Aszú — the botrytised sweet wine central to Tokaj's reputation — represents the region's benchmark style. Mád's volcanic soils produce Furmint with a mineral tension that separates it from expressions grown on other soil types in the twenty-seven-village appellation. The estate's Pearl 2 Star Prestige rating awarded in 2025 signals production at a level where vineyard-specific character is a defining commitment.

Why do people go to Szent Tamás Winery?

Mád has become the address most associated with serious Tokaji production in international wine circles, and a visit to an estate at this level puts you in direct contact with the classification-tier ambition that defines the village. The Pearl 2 Star Prestige designation (2025) places Szent Tamás among producers where the origin of fruit — specific parcels on Mád's volcanic hills — is as important as winemaking technique. For anyone tracing Hungarian wine beyond retail shelves, Hunyadi János utca 3 is a logical first stop in the village.

Is Szent Tamás Winery reservation-only?

No website or direct phone listing is currently published for the estate, which makes unannounced visits a poor strategy. The most practical approach is to contact local Mád wine tourism offices or the broader Tokaj wine region visitor network for current booking arrangements. Given the estate's 2025 Pearl 2 Star Prestige standing, confirmed appointments are advisable well in advance.

What does the Pearl 2 Star Prestige rating mean for a visit to Szent Tamás Winery in Mád?

The Pearl 2 Star Prestige designation, awarded in 2025, positions Szent Tamás above entry-level Tokaj production and into the tier where site-specific viticulture and appellation character are the benchmarks rather than volume output. Within Mád — Hungary's most competitively scrutinised wine village — that rating places the estate alongside producers whose wines regularly appear in specialist merchant lists and collector allocations. For a visitor, it signals that tastings here are structured around terroir dialogue rather than general introductions to Tokaj as a category.