I write a fair amount about wineries around Tokaj, as it is my birthplace so to speak. I go there often, and I try to know it better through its famous product. I have never put it in a wider setting to include the character, typical produce of the whole region, so here is my take on it.
Tokaj is a little market town and a famous wine region in the north-east of Hungary. After phylloxera and the First and Second World War the recovery of the region was very slow, and the Soviet domination pushed the region’s wine industry towards quantity rather than quality products. Since the 1989’s Soviet departure from Hungary things started to change. The big government owned wine ‘factories’ called ‘borkombinát’ have been disbanded, split into smaller companies, reorganised and many of them bought up by foreign companies investing in the region like AXA Millesimes (Disznókő) and Vega Silica (Oremus). The privatisation helped many winemakers to set up their own small vineries, but many of them were struggling with financial issues for the much-needed technical improvements and they needed to catch up with the current trends and modern winemaking techniques. As the borders opened many winemakers could travel abroad to learn and see what other nations can do. One of them was Istvan Szepsy who visited Bordeaux and Sauternes amongst others. He came back with ideas and plans which he put in action, that made him one of the most respected winemakers in Hungary. A lot of small investors arrived at the region and partnered up with local winemakers to make fine wine that can be exported to western-European countries. For example, Hugh Johnson who set up the Royal Tokaj company in Mád, another is Samuel Tinon from Bordeaux or the Degenfeld family from Germany who had local connections.
The climate here is continental, with annual mean temperatures being around 10°C and 21°C in July and -4°C in January. There are long, warm summers, and cold winters with significant amount of precipitation. The humidity is high thanks to the confluence of Tisza and Bodrog rivers which encourages botrytis. The best vineyards are on the southern slopes that gives shelter from the severe northerly winds.
Tokaj itself is the southern-most tip of the region with a volcanic cone-like hill. With another two tent-shaped hills, both called Sátor (literally “tent”), one to the north-west and one to the north-east, the region has a triangle shape, with volcanic hills densely populated with oak forests and riddled with rivers and valleys. It is part of the Zemplén Mountains which is part of the Tokaj-Eperjes Range that is within the Carpathian chain. The region has great topographical diversity. You can find a large spectrum of volcanic rocks, such as rhyolite, andesit, basalt and other pyroclastic rocks like tuff, rhyolite tuff. These rocks weather faster and thanks to the thermal spring activities a lot of trace element enriched the soil, like potassium and iron. At a later period, the volcanic soils were overlaid with loess and clay, particularly in the southern fringes, even at higher altitudes. The main soil types are: - clayey nyirok (translates roughly to damp, wet), a stony clay which is sticky when wet, rock hard when dries out, - yellow earth which is clayey loess or sometimes sandy loess. It drains well and has some lime content. - crumbly rock, which does not retain water and heat well. There are two leading and couple of other grape varieties used to make wine in this region. Furmint and Hárslevelű (Lindenleaf) are originated from the region and they seem to be related too. Both able to age, retain acidity very well and attract botrytis. You can find Yellow Muscat (Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains), Kövérszőlő and Zéta as well.
Although the region is famous for its dessert wines, its dry whites that most of the production is based on. Sweet wine is a lucky happenstance. Dry whites typically made with Furmint and Lindenleaf, varietally labelled, usually fermented to dryness, but can be made with some residual sugar. Can be simple, stainless steel fermented, or more age worthy, oak aged varieties. No botrytis. In these wines at all. The more exclusive examples are single vineyard selections, like Szepsy Úrágya, the simple ones usually labelled as Tokaji Furmint.
The other famous type of wine is Szamorodni, which translates to as it comes. It can be dry or sweet, depending on the amount of noble rot is present in the grape. The grapes are picked as whole bunches and aszú berries are left in the bunch. The wines, even when they dry, can show botrytis character. The wines must be aged in cask for minimum a year, or longer. If dry often aged in not fully filled cask under a flor-like film of yeast, so can display some fino like character. Best examples come from Samuel Tinon who has vineyards at Olaszliszka. The sweet Szamorodni again aged in not completely filled casks, but in an oxidative way, without any protecting yeast.
Late harvest or Cuvee is a currently very fashionable, lighter type of sweet white wine with a reductive style, which is a phenomenon from the 21st century and not a traditional category. As it is quicker to make, so it is financially much more viable. Usually made in stainless steel, released 12-16 months after harvest and has at least 50-160 g/l sugar and has a crisp, fruity character. It may have some botrytized character, but it is not barrel aged. Royal Tokaj Late Harvest, or Royal Tokaj Áts Cuvee are great examples of the style.
Aszú is the pride and joy of the region. The classic Tokaj sweet white wine that has a high concentration of sugar, extract, with high amount of acidity. Made from hand-selected, shrivelled, botrytized grapes. Before pressing the grapes are soaked in fresh white must, or fresh white wine for 16-36 hours. Aszú wine must contain at least 120 g residual sugar per litre. Then pressed and matured under oxidative conditions without any fortification. The maturation includes two years barrel ageing. The second fermentation gives a much deeper character to the wine. The classic puttonyos levels from 2 to 6 puttonyos that has been changed and reduced over the last couple of decades are no longer part of the Hungarian law. Nowadays is more likely to find 4,5 or 6 puttonyos aszú with current vintages, but antique bottles still be labelled corresponding with the old system.
There are two lesser-known rarities produced in the region that you possibly never heard of: Fordítás and Máslás.
Fordítás (literally means translation) is when fresh must or wine poured on to the aszú paste left after pressing sweet white wine. Typically, it has a sugar content of minimum of 45g sugar per litre.
Máslás (literally means copying) is when new wine is poured on to lees left after fermenting aszú wine.
Another curious by-product of the aszú is the Essencia, which is the free-run juice
of the hand-picked botrytized berries. It must contain at least 450g sugar per litre,
but it can go easily over 800 g. It may take years or decades of fermentation to
produce a low level of alcohol (2-5%). It is mostly used as a blending material, to
improve the concentration of aszú wines. If you can find bottles of it as a rarity,
the price is usually astronomical even from a fairly recent vintage.
https://hedonism.co.uk/product/royal-tokaji-essencia-half-2008
If it is from a
well-respected winemaker, then…
https://www.tokajneum.com/en/shop/tokaji-essencia/tokaji-essencia-2011-
detail.html
On a personal note, my uncle, who happens to live in Mád, and has his
own Essencia from his small hold, rather loves it diluted with soda-water, just as a
squash of some sort. A mighty expensive gape squash I might add.
Photographs by The Tannin Addict.