Wine region
Tokaj
Tokaj in north-east Hungary: Furmint and Hárslevelű, noble rot and aszú, one of the world’s great sweet wines, a UNESCO site since 2002.
- Vineyard area
- just over 5,500 hectares in more than two dozen villages in north-east Hungary
- Main grapes
- Furmint (about two thirds), Hárslevelű, Sárgamuskotály (yellow Muscat); then Zéta, Kövérszőlő, Kabar
- Soils and climate
- volcanic with loess and clay; continental, autumn mist from the Bodrog and Tisza encourages noble rot
- Signature wines
- Tokaji Aszú, Eszencia, Szamorodni, dry Furmint
- Landmark
- UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002; cellars cut into volcanic tuff
Tokaj lies in the far north-east of Hungary, on the Slovak border, at the foot of the Zemplén Mountains. Just over 5,500 hectares of vines are spread across more than two dozen villages; a small part of the historic region now lies in Slovakia. The soils are volcanic, topped with loess and clay, and the vines mostly stand between 100 and 300 metres. Water decides everything: at the town of Tokaj the Bodrog and the Tisza meet, and in autumn mist hangs over the slopes in the morning. The moisture lets the noble-rot fungus Botrytis cinerea settle on the berries, the afternoon sun dries them out again, and they shrivel into concentrated raisins. In 1737 a royal decree delimited the area, an early case of protected origin; since 2002 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape.
About two thirds of the vineyard is Furmint, a late-ripening, high-acid variety that takes noble rot readily and so suits sweet and dry wine alike. Next comes Hárslevelű, Hungarian for “linden leaf”: richer and softer, with notes of honey and blossom. The third is Sárgamuskotály, the yellow Muscat, which is Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains; Zéta, Kövérszőlő and Kabar play only minor roles.
Tokaj is famous for aszú. Berries shrivelled by noble rot are picked by hand, one at a time, and steeped in must or base wine; the wine then ages for at least 18 months in wood. The sweetness used to be counted in “puttonyos”: a puttony was a hod carried on the back, holding about 25 kilograms of aszú berries, and the number, from 3 to 6, said how many of them went into a barrel of about 136 litres. An aszú must mature for at least three years before it is sold. Sweeter and rarer still is eszencia, the juice that runs from the aszú berries under their own weight, with at least 450 grams of sugar per litre and very little alcohol. Szamorodni, by contrast, is made from whole bunches, healthy and noble-rotted berries together, and can be dry or sweet. The idea of winning sweetness from dried grapes is familiar in Switzerland from Valais Flétri; in Tokaj, noble rot plays the lead.
In the glass, aszú shows apricot, honey and orange marmalade, carried by an acidity that keeps it lively despite all the sweetness. The wines mature in cellars driven deep into soft volcanic tuff, where the temperature stays around 10 to 12 degrees all year. What to drink: aszú, well chilled, with foie gras, blue cheese or an apricot dessert; a szamorodni with nuts and mature hard cheese; dry Furmint, which has counted as a style of its own since the 2000s, tight and mineral, with fish and poultry.