Huszár Zoltán (szerk.): Kereszténység és államiság Baranyában (Pécs, 2000)
Andrásfalvy Bertalan: Szőlőművelés és borkultúra Baranyában
Bertalan Andrásfalvy ViNE-GpiNG AND WÍNE-MAkíNG ÍN BARANYA Summary The soil and geography of Baranya lends itself to vinegrowing. There is a strong possibility that vines were tended even by those people living in the region prior to the arrival of the Romans, but there is clear proof of Roman vine-growing in Pannonia. Everything points to the fact that the inhabitants of the province were well acquainted with the occupation, for Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) was to speak up against the planting of wines across the Alps in a bid to protect Roman and Italian wines. The Emperor Domitianus (81 -96) issued a decree ordering that one half of all Roman plantations be destroyed. Italy also banned the creating of new plantations, since they reduced the territory open to the planting of cereals at a time when wheat production was already insufficient. Only 200 years later did the Emperor Marcus Probus revoke the ban in the province, he himself having new vines planted by his legionaries. Not only the leaders of the Roman Empire, but also those of the Dacians, Avars and Bulgarians were to take measures against the intoxicating of wine. It has been comprehensively proven that the settling Hungarians north of the Caucasians became acquainted with the art of viticulture during the period of coexistence with the Bulgarians and Turks. Arriving in the Carpathian Basin, they did not trouble the vinegrowers of the fragmented races they found here, but enlisted them among the tax-paying community. The intensity of vine-growing can also be seen in place names such as Kővágószőlős and Hercegszőlős. In the founding documents of the Abbey at Pécsvárad 90 semi-freemen are listed who were to pay their taxes in the form of wine. Our first documentary data we have of Baranya viticulturists is from 1220, in which we learn of the Ürög vineyards of the Jakab-hegyi Pauline Order bought by the Bertalan, Bishop of Pécs, for the monastery. A 1332 contract of sale, in which the derelict vineyard at Patacs-hegy is sold, provides evidence of vine-growing by the citizenry of Pécs. The contract also lists the abutting vineyard owners. The most important vine-growing areas were delineated at the time of the Turkish Occupation. These were the following: the Mecsek, the region stretching from Jakab-hegy all the way to Szekszárd, the Siklós- Villány hills, Baranyabán and the wine region west of Szigetvár. Vineyards in these regions were tended not only by the indigenous feudal tenants, freemen and nobility, but also by those living further afield who did not live in the proximity of a vineyard hillside. The study goes into detail regarding viticultural activities during the period of the Turkish Occupation, different types of wine and their evaluation. The Balkan Serbs, who were settled by the Turks to the south, brought with them their own red wine tradition and the accompanying grape, the Kadarka. The Kadarka had the great advantage of requiring less care both in tending the vines or producing the wine than was the case with white wines. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, after the expulsion of the Turks and the end of the Kumts Wars, there was no break in vinegrowing, which continued under a new profile of ownership. The vineyards of the Turks were shared out among the Church, the remaining and resettling German and Hungarian population and the Bosnians. Vineyards wre also obtained by those gentlemen who owned property in Pécs. Among other regulations brought up by the town of Pécs in 1748 was the announcement that in Pécs "be he nobleman or commoner, if he be not a citizen [of the city] he shall not sell wine, under the punishment of confiscation. External wines shall not be brought into the city, and especially not be sold in the taverns of the city." The end of the 18th and beginning of the 19lh centuries saw a heyday for viticulture. The period is described in detail in a book by Ferenc Schams dated 1832. It is on the basis of that publication that the present study describes viticultural activity in the region in the first third of the nineteenth century, along its associated culture and technological process. The reader may also glean knowledge of the various aspects of vinegrowing and the effects of trade. By the end of the 19th century Hungary had been hit by the destructive vine disease primarily brought across from America. The first instance of powdery mildew in Pécs was documented in 1853, while peronospora was first observed in 1880 and phylloxera in 1887. By the end of the nineteenth century between 80-90% of all vines had been destroyed, mostly by phylloxera. With the destruction of vines came the search for new strains that would withstand the disease and stem the carnage. Vine stocks that were not affected by phylloxera were imported from America, while peronospora and powdery mildew could be treated against through spraying. The first Baranya vineyard of American stock was planted in Mágocs. Vineyard owners had to
