The Neszmély wine region is developing – a community space is being built on the Baji vineyard hill

An event venue is being built next to the Esterházy Kispince in the village of Baj in Komárom-Esztergom County to serve the region's wine tourism industry, according to the mayor of the village. 

Tibor Schunder said,

As part of a 200 million forint investment, the Baj vineyard will be expanded by May 2026 with a 350-square-metre community space capable of accommodating 200 people. The development also includes the construction of the necessary car parks.

As a result of the investment, the region will gain a new community space that will provide a worthy venue for local winemakers to showcase their products, as well as for professional conferences, tastings, competitions and other wine-related events, the mayor explained.

The vineyard that houses the cellar is located approximately 500 metres east of the town of Baj, barely two kilometres from the town of Tata. The project is being implemented with the support of the TOP Plusz programme.

The new wine centre for the region is being built next to a 250-year-old cellar.

The vineyard in Baj already belonged to the Esterházy estate in the 18th century. The family had both a small and a large cellar on the hillside, the smaller one serving the family's needs and the larger one belonging to the estate.

The 40-metre-long small cellar was built around 1760, and the Esterházys' largest barrel, which held 2,150 akó, or 118,000 litres of wine, was painted on its wall, demonstrating the former size and oenological significance of the estate.

A distinctive feature of the wine cellar is the wine press, built in 1760, where the work of the carpenters was complemented by a sculptor who decorated the beams and pillars of the press with artistic reliefs.

The Esterházy cellars were nationalised after 1945 and used as a warehouse for a long time, then the municipality bought them back in 2018, renovated them and turned them into a community space, said the mayor.