HUNGARY: Wine Making in Tokaj

The Tokaj wine region is in northeastern Hungary, near the Slovakian border, around the town of Tokaj.

It is a historic wine-growing region of rolling hills and small villages where the Bodrog and Tisza rivers meet.

Wine has been produced here since at least the Middle Ages, around the 12th–13th centuries.

The Tokaj region produces both dry and sweet white wines, but is especially famous for Tokaji Aszú, a sweet wine made from grapes affected by Botrytis cinerea, known as “noble rot.”

In 2002, the Tokaj wine region was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historic vineyards, villages and wine-making traditions.

The most widely planted grape variety in the area is Furmint and is used for both dry and sweet wines. 

“Botrytis” is a type of fungus, commonly called grey mold, that grows on grapes and other fruits. Botrytis can destroy grapes, but under the right conditions it causes them to shrivel, which concentrates their sugar and flavour.

The Tokaj region has the right conditions. It has two rivers which create morning mist and humidity, and then has drier conditions later in the day that help the grapes dry out. 

These conditions can produce the “noble rot” needed for Aszú sweet wine.

Hundreds of years ago, growers would have noticed that certain shriveled grapes became extremely sweet, and then they would have eventually learned to separate them from the normal harvest and made sweet wine from them. The first known written reference to Tokaji Aszú is from 1571.

The Aszú grapes are harvested by hand. The selection of grapes is done in the vineyard, rather than harvesting everything and sorting it later. 

Workers make several passes through the vineyards, picking only grapes or small clusters that have developed the right amount of noble rot. Grapes that aren't ready are left on the vine for another pass. Patience is required as the process is slow and labour-intensive. 

"Puttonyos" is the traditional measure of sweetness in Tokaji Aszú. The word puttonyos comes from the Hungarian word for the baskets used to collect grapes.

Traditionally, puttonyos indicated how many baskets of these botrytised grapes were added to a barrel of base wine. The higher the puttonyos number, the more concentrated and generally sweeter the wine. This bottle is 3 puttonyos.

Because of the volcanic soil, Tokaji's naturally high acidity balances the sweetness, giving it a fresh, fruity character rather than making it taste simply sugary. 

You can see the colour difference between 5 puttonyos and 6 puttonyos. The 6 puttonyos (on the left side) is a darker colour because more of the concentrated grapes were used.

Wine needs to be stored somewhere. Tokaj is also known for its underground wine cellars, many carved into volcanic rock and some date back several hundred years. 

They provide cool, humid and stable conditions for storing and aging wine.

The walls and ceilings are often covered with a dark fungus called Cladosporium cellare. 

It feeds partly on alcohol vapour released by the wine and is a natural feature of traditional Tokaj cellars.

 

Tokaj has a long wine-making tradition and was once highly prized by European royal courts. Louis XIV of France reportedly called Tokaji Aszú “the wine of kings and the king of wines.” 

If it was good enough for Louis XIV, I am sure it is good enough for us.

Cheers! To Good Health and Happy Travels!