Jedi in rubberboots

Lightsaber Made of Grüner Veltliner

The other day, I managed to snag a meeting with Tamas Vargas – winemaker, Star Wars devotee, and director of the small cult label Steigler in Sopron.

Tamas is 47, born and raised here, but he's dragged his winemaking soul through Austria and New Zealand before returning home as a kind of local Jedi master — just to swap the lightsaber for a shovel and a pair of muddy boots.

He's a walking technical manual disguised as a down-to-earth farmer: calm as Yoda after meditation, yet with a creative streak that makes the region's old guard mutter "madman" (probably in their best Darth Vader voice).

Using the Force to Break Old Rules

And madman — well, maybe.

While the area's venerable winemakers cling to the same cellar routines they swore by in 1897, Tamas has happily hurled the rulebook out the window — think Luke tossing his blaster aside and trusting the Force.

He lets white wine rest on its lees for up to nine months without so much as a stir — around here, that's practically Sith-level witchcraft.

The payoff? A whole new voice for the usually five-liter-jug grape Grüner Veltliner — now reborn as serious still wine, pet-nat, and dry sparkling that knocks politely (but with Jedi mind tricks) on Michelin wine lists.

And then there's my personal love affair: Kékfrankos.

Tamas has built a lineup that makes you forget everything you thought you knew about the grape — as if Obi-Wan just waved his hand and said: This is not the wine you think it is.

"One Hour, Maybe Ninety Minutes Tops…"

I walked into the meeting thinking: An hour, maybe ninety minutes tops.

Five hours later, we were still deep in wine, grapes, future visions, and existential tasting notes — the kind of conversation that feels like a Jedi training session, only with better glassware.

We were interrupted only by a couple of lost tourists who thought the cellar was open for drinks.

Turned out they were a husband-and-wife pilot team:

He American with a soft spot for Kékfrankos,

She German, stylish, and searching for something elegant (but not bone-dry nonsense — no need to join the Dark Side).

Even that random detour spiraled into nerdy wine talk that reshaped the afternoon.

From Calendar Entry to Epic Saga

What started as a neat little calendar entry turned into a five-hour wine adventure — part masterclass, part intergalactic council.

Thank you, Tamas, for proving that the best conversations (and wines) happen when you stop playing by the book and dare to trust the Force.