The Brotherhood of the Volcanoes, Tokaj-Hegyalja

Vineyards in the village of Mád. The area where Tokaji wine is traditionally grown is a small plateau, 457 m (1500 ft) above sea level, near the Carpathian Mountains. The soil is of volcanic origin containing iron and lime.

Why is Tokaj so special? Is it the soil, is it the climate or is it the grape varieties and the people?

All these factors and much more (including the very technology used in making Tokaji) play an important role.

While the expertise of winemakers can develop, grape varieties themselves can travel and even climate can change, one thing remains very much unique to Tokaj - the soil. Its true that people who work on the soil and certain alterations can modify the outcome (e.g. fertilization) but the sub soil is pretty much the same. Some argue the types of effects the mineral composition of the soil has on the finished wine and, if I wish to simplify, there is a new world vs. old world opinion to this as well. Yet, based on tastings from the most famous white wine regions of Hungary such as Somló, Balaton-Highlands (including Badacsony, Szt. György) and of course Tokaj-Hegyalja (Foothills of Tokaj), the soil plays a major role not only in the nutrient uptake but also the character of the finished wine.

So what constitutes a volcanic soil? A combination of rocks which is a product of volcanic eruption. In the case of Tokaj-Hegyalja, there were more then 400 little volcanoes which shaped the region. Volcanic rocks have many different forms, in Tokaj this varies from andesite, basalt, rhyolit, tuff, nyirok (sort of a red clay), and zeolite. Then there is also loess, limestone, marl, gneiss and much more. Loess is usually a wind blown fine-grained mix of clay and silt. Wines coming from this part of soil are usually lighter in body and softer texture but elegant and refined. Such examples are the wines of the Hétszölö estate. The colour of rhyolite of the volcanic soil varies from white to red, yellow and darker grey. In the district of Mád there are many prime examples of such soil and fantastic wines, full bodied with plenty of density and complexity such as the wines of István Szepsy.

Example of brown forest soil formed on a volcanic base from the Királyudvar Winery.

Tokaj-Hegyalja region was classified amongst the very first in the world, the vineyards have a strict hierarchy and some are better then others. However, today such “official” classification does not exist as it once did which is a great shame – if I’m honest. The wine region is located in the North-East corner of Hungary, approximately 200 km from the capital, Budapest, near the borders of Slovakia and Ukraine. Slopes are facing mainly South-East, the region is between the Hernád and Bodrog rivers while many other smaller and larger rivers also pass through the region.

These rivers play an important role in the foundation of the “noble rot”, the botrytis cinerea, which is a key component in making the famous sweet wine, the aszús, sweet szamorodnis and esszencia. The convergence of these waterways bring forth humidity, fog and warmth which create the right balance of conditions that produce this noble rot. Botrytis is the fungus which is responsible for penetrating through the healthy grape’s stomata while consuming sugar and acidity but at the same time dehydration takes place whereby water evaporates and the juice is concentrated creating more glycerol, laccase and enzymes. The cinerea refers to the unappetizing ash like looking powder on the grape skin giving it the rotten appearance. Normally grapes in this condition would never be used in wine production but in fact because of this process the end result makes a very complex and sweet wine.

Another contribution to the unique style of Tokaj is the grape varieties used. You could apply Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon or even Chardonnay to make sweet wine but why? Why would you use them when you have Furmint, Hárslevelü? Grape varieties are the tool to represent the origin and the typicity. Hungaricum, meaning Hungarian grape varieties either by history and tradition or crossing (breeding), play an important role to achieve something great. In the case of Tokaj, there is also something else which is not practiced anywhere else in the world,  the technique utilized in making the aszú wines.

The botrytis affected grapes are picked separately and while this is nothing special as it’s similarily done in Germany, Austria and France, the maceration with the dry wine or must is different. This means that from the aszú berries they make a sort of “pastry dough” and from here there are 3 different ways to go forward. You can either macerate the aszú berries, pastry in unfermented must, add fermenting must or add a dry base wine. Pannon Tokaj for instance works with fermenting must because they believe that the CO2 during fermentation helps to release more flavours from the aszú berries. The tricky question with the aszú wines is when it comes to the above mentioned classification, that many of the shrivelled berries come from smaller growers and a lot of different vineyards too.

The Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region is very diverse with a lot of different soil formations with higher quality then others such as “rhyolit” - a clear and bright soil and “zeolit” which has a superior drainage, water conducting and heat retaining quality. Tokaj-Hegyalja is not just an exciting wine region in Hungary but also one of the most stunning in the world because of its terroir. The harmony between soil, climate, variety and the people create these outstanding dry white wines and remarkable aszús.

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Related posts:

1. Noble rot: Hungary’s unlikely discovery
2. Hungarian wine facts
3. Wine Spotlight: 2009 Hétszölö Tokaji Furmint
4. Hungary and Slovakia battle over Tokaji Wine
5. Tokaji Aszú

Tags: Hungary, tokaj, tokaj-hegyalja, Tokaji, Wine

Category: Wine