Family heritage

The land has been owned and taken care of by the same family for over 170 years, except for the Rákosi era.

In 1850 Rick Jakab the great-great-grandfather of the current owner (Gábor Harsányi) had purchased the first vineyard and established the Rick Cottage. He had also opened the first pharmacy in Sárospatak. The cottage has become one of the town’s main heritage destinations for tourists since.

From 1877 Jakab’s son, Gusztáv Rick took over the estate and the pharmacy, but the significant improvements of the winery had started under his wife’s Jolán Grissza management who soon became widow when Gusztáv passed away at the age of 41. She had sold the pharmacy and invested the money in Ciróka vineyard and became one of the certifiers of the wine contests organized on Tokaj-Hegyalja for years.

In 1907 the real flourishing became complete during the time of the great-grandfather, Béla Rick who graduated in agriculture so he could develop and cultivate the vineyards of the Rick brothers called “Ciróka” at the highest standards of the times as an expert.

This was broken by World War II. followed by the deportations and the confiscations of the entire land in the Rákosi era. The family winery was then taken up by Dr. Ádám Harsányi (grandson of Béla Rick) in the 1970s who was a physician in Budapest, but his family traditions and his heart belonged to Sárospatak. During the compensations in 1992 most of the original vineyards were transferred back to the possession of the family but the major goal was still to continue family traditions.

Gábor Harsányi took over the management of the winery in 2012 when his father got retired. Although he has a different profession like his ancestors, but the family land, the “Ciróka” still takes a central place in his life. He opened a new era in the history of the winery when he took over the land. Stepping out of the family business he expanded the size of land and changed to more modern viniculture and wine-making technologies. As a committed handcraft wine-maker his work combines tradition, modernism and expertise well.