Hungary's largest historic wine-region is located at the foot of the Mátra Mountains in the northeast part of the country. The Mátraalja wine region is a half hour ride from Budapest and next to the famous Eger wine region. On the southern slopes of the Mátra Mountains (translated as Mátraalja) wine growing began in the 11th century. The most important family owned winery of the Mátraalja wine-district is the Mátyás Szöke Winery in the town of Gyöngyöstarján. Mátyás Szöke has been focused on winemaking since the 70's, which is quite early in the history of recent winemaking in Hungary. From the very beginning, his wines have been destined for the gourmet. In Budapest alone, his products are served in more than one hundred restaurants. The Szöke wines are also well known abroad; almost half of the production is sold in Europe every year. The white wines are produced in temperature controlled fermentation tanks so that the terroir of the Mátra hill region and the fragrance and flavor of the grapes remains with its full brilliance and develops in the wine. The harvesting, done by hand, is focused on quickly bringing the ripe grapes into the winery. The winemaking uses modern international style technology. The cellars, deep under the Mátra hills, are old, some of them dating from the time of Napoleon. Son Zoltán, who is a college-trained winemaker, has advanced the cellar work and use of new technology. The winery produces between 150,000 to 200,000 bottles yearly primarily for restaurants.