Tokaji: Hungary’s Golden Wine

Introduction

There are few wines in the world that can compare to Tokaji. This luscious sweet wine has been Hungary’s crowning glory for hundreds of years. It is one of the oldest wines in the world even before Port and the classification of Bordeaux.

Throughout the 17th and 18th century, Tokaji was a cherished commodity enjoyed by the royals of Europe including Louis XIV of France, Peter the Great, Elizabeth of Russia, and Frederick the Great, as well as renowned composers and writers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Friedrich von Schiller, Bram Stoker, Joseph Haydn, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

However, the production and quality of Tokaj plummeted for most of the 20th century.

Since the collapse of the communist regime in the early 1990′s which resulted in centuries of difficulties, despair and neglect for the once-great Hungarian wine region. Tokaji is starting to see a rebirth or what’s being dubbed as the “Tokaj Renaissance”.

The Tokaj-Hegyalja Region

The Tokaj-Hegyalja region is located in Northeastern Hungary and is approximately 200 km (125 miles) of Budapest, the nation’s capital.

The region lies on the edge of the great Hungarian plain, dominated by the extinct Tokaj volcano and the Zemplen Hills.

It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2002 on account for its distinctive viticultural traditions and landscape. The Tokaj-Hegyalja region covers a total of 28 towns and villages.

The town of Tokaj, which gives the region its name, has been an important centre for trade since the 9th century, located at the Tisza and Bodrog rivers, near the Kopaszhegy mountain.

History of Tokaji Wine

Vines believed to be indigenous to the region were first cultivated in Tokaj during the Roman times.

However, the region only became world famous in the mid 17th century with the Aszú wine. It became the first region to produce wine from botrytized grapes.

Furthermore, a royal decree in 1757 established a closed production district in Tokaj, the world’s first system of wine appellation. Vineyard classification began in 1730 and was completed by the national censuses of 1765 and 1772.

After World War II, Hungary became a Soviet-influenced state with a Communist central-planning system, Tokaji production continued with a limited number of producers, but the bottling and distribution were monopolized by a state-owned organization. This resulted in quality plummeting and the wine becoming inaccessible to most of the world.

Since the collapse of the communist regime in the early 1990’s, many wineries have regained their status with the help of foreign investment.

Climate

The Tokaj region is characterized by hot, dry summers followed by a long, warm, misty fall. This provides an ideal condition for producing botrytized grapes.

Types of Tokaji Wine

Although, the region is most noted for it’s Aszú wine. There are many other styles that produce flavorful and robust wines.

Dry and Semi-Sweet

Tokaji Furmint: A clear, brass brass-colored quality wine made from a single grape variety. It is matured in both dry and semisweet styles.
Tokaji Harslevelü: A fiery, dry wine with a soft flavor and aroma. It spends two years maturing in oak casks before being bottled.
Tokaji Sárgamuskotály: Made from yellow muscat grapes. Softer than Furmint and Hárslevelü with a muscat flavour.
Tokaji Szamorodni: The name Szamorodni comes from the Polish samo rodni “the way it was grown”. It contains both botryised and non-botrytised grapes. The resulting wine will be either dry or sweet depending on the proportion of Aszú berries.

Late Harvest Cuvees

Tokaji Aszú: This is the wine which made the Tokaj world famous and is proudly cited in the Hungarian national anthem. The original meaning of the Hungarian word aszú was “dried”, but it came to be associated with a type of wine made with botrytised grapes.
Tokaji Aszú Eszencia: Sweeter than Aszú which is made with Eszencia syrup.
Tokaji Eszencia: The rarest form of Tokaji wine often only available on the wines estates, and then only by the glass. It is made from the free-run juice of the noble rotten grapes and matured in oak barrels for a minimum of 15 years.
Maslas and Fordítás: These wines are made from second and third pressings of Aszú berries. They are mainly sold as table wine within the region.

Sweetness Levels

The sweetness of a wine is defined by the level of sugar in the wine. In this case, Tokaji is graded by it’s puttonyos which denotes the number of puttony of aszu berries mixed with the base wine. The more puttonyos are added per gönc (barrel) of dry wine, the sweeter the final wine will be. Generally wines range from three to six puttonyos. Wine with six puttonyos is highly prized; wine with one or two puttonyos is rarely bottled.

3 puttonyos = 60 grams per litre
4 puttonyos = 90 grams per litre
5 puttonyos = 120 grams per litre
6 puttonyos = 150 grams per litre
Aszú Eszencia = over 180 grams per litre
Eszencia = over 240 grams per litre

Grape Varieties

There are six grape varieties that produce Tokaji wine. Furmint is the most important variety which accounts for (60%) of the area, followed by Hárslevelü (30%). Grapes that produce red wine are not allowed to grow in the region.

Furmint: The most widely used grape variety comprising up to 60% of the region.
Hárslevelü: The second most important grape variety grown in Tokaj. Hárslevelü is often blended with Furmint to produce Tokaji Aszú.
Yellow Muscat or Sárga Muskotály: One of the oldest domesticated grape varieties in the world, it assists in producing fruity flavors and aroma’s.
Zéta: Previously called Oremus, this variety is a blend of furmint and bouvier and has recently been authorized to be planted in Tokaj. It is used in some Aszú production.
Kövérszolo: Characterized by its relatively large big berries, Kövérszolo is suitable for making aszú wines due to its susceptibility to botrytisation and its high sugar content.
Kabar: Also known under its research name as Tarcal 10, Kabar is an early-ripening cross of Hárslevelü and Bouvier and was authorised for production in the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in 2006.

Cellars

Tokaji wines are aged in oak barrels for several years in underground cellars. The cellars are covered with a characteristic mold called Cladosporium cellare, which develops off the alcohol evaporated during aging and keeps the humidity in the range of 85-90%, which is ideal for the aging of Tokaji wines. There are several wine cellars extending beneath the villages and towns of the region. It is believed these cellars were dug out of solid rock between the 15th and 19th centuries.

Further Information

For more information about Tokaji wine and the region, you can visit these websites as listed below.

Official Tokaj City and Tourism Website
http://www.tokaj.hu

Tokaj-Hegyaljai Borút Egyesulet
http://www.tokaji-borut.hu

Tokaji.com
http://www.tokaji.com

UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1063

Related posts:

1. Hungary and Slovakia battle over Tokaji Wine
2. Tokaji Wine Festival 2009
3. Tokaji Aszú
4. Celebrating 20 years of The Royal Tokaji Wine Company
5. Wine Spotlight: 2009 Hétszölö Tokaji Furmint

Tags: Hungarian wine, Sweet wine, Tokaji Aszú

Category: Wine