abstract:Smaragd (Smaragdus) or Zsámbéki was the name of a gens (Latin for "clan"; nemzetség in Hungarian) in the Kingdom of Hungary. The ancestor of the clan was a French knight Ainordi (Aynard) de Champagne, who settled down in Hungary around 1160 during the reign of Stephen III of Hungary and received the estate of Zsámbék as royal gift.
Curiously though, the white wine he brought for our meal is very ripe and voluptuous, by no means dry, a 2006 Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel.