13 - Tokaj Flashcards
Describe the growing conditions in Tokaj (5).
Moderate continental climate
Northernly Forested mountains → protect from cold, N winds
~1450 hrs of sunlight during growing season →S/SE/SW benefit max sunlight
500-600mm but 1/2 falls during growing season
warm + dry autumns → late-harvest
Tisza and Bodrog meet at Tokaj → morning fog + sunny afternoons = botrytis, grey rot
Describe how Tokaj’s soils impact grape growing in the region.
Volcanic soils - Nyirok → powerful
Loess (sandy silt with clay) → delicate
Volcanic bedrock is soft → vines can root deeply → water stress, lack of nutrients rare
How has viticulture evolved in Hungary? (2)
Training and Trellising
Traditional → single post, 10,000 VPH
Mordern → 4500 VPH, RCP or cordon with VSP
Mechanisation
More common → canopy thinning + harvesting
→Not on steeper slopes or Aszu
What are the main viti challenges in Tokaj? (4)
- Powdery mildew
- Grey rot → wetter years
- Wild boar + birds
- Aszu → skilled labour
What are the typical yields in Tokaj.
Low for dry wines to ensure q
Aszu → 2-3 hL/ha
Describe the characteristics of Furmint including:
Ripening
Skin
Flavours, structure and styles
Late ripening → retaining acid
Thick-skinned → protects from grey rot but still susceptible to botrytis
Lemon, apple, pear → honey and nuts with age, oak ageing common on prem styles → dried apricot and mango with botrytis
High sugar levels → dry styles full-bodied with high alcohol → but modern viti means grapes can get ripe at med alcohol
What do Hárslevelű and Sárga Muskotály contribute to blends?
Floral notes
Describe the style of wine labeled Aszu.
Deep amber
orange peel, apricots + honey
high acid, sweet, low-med alcohol
Describe the production process for Aszu wines from harvest to bottling. (9)
- Harvest individual botrytis grapes → several pas
- Mash into a paste via a pump → taking care not to extract bitterness → some avoid step
- Macerate paste in must or base wine for 12-60hrs at around 12-15c
- Min potential ABV of 12% for the must
- Many producers stop ferment early OR allow yeast to die naturally
- min 18mnths in oak - often longer → traditionally small 136L barrels → now moving to 300-500L, mix of new and old oak used
- Must be bottled in clear 500ml
Describe the different method of maceration used to produce Tokaji and how it impacts the style of wine produced.
- Macerate in unfermenting must - must held at cool temp to discourage ferment → lightest styles
- Maceration in fermenting must - 12-15c up to 16-18c as ferment continues → most powerful, complex wine
- Maceration in young finished wine → more extraction
What is the potential ABV of the must that Aszu grapes are macerated in?
Min of 12%
mainly 14.5-15.5%
How can producers use botrytised grapes to add extra richness to Tokaj (apart from the grapes used for maceration)?
% of botrytized grapes in base must/wine → adds complexity, creamy texture
Why do many producers prefer cultured yeast when fermenting Aszu wine?
high sugar content→difficult for ambient yeast to survive and ferment reliably
Which Aszu wines may require stablisation? How is this achieved?
Wines produced by stopping fermentation early → chill juice, rack and dose with SO2
How did the system of Aszu grapes change in 2013?
Pre-2013
→ by sweetness according to puttonyos scale from 3-6
Post-2013
- Min sugar 120g/L (equal to 5 puttonyos under old scale)
- Not mandatory to label using puttonyos
- New categories of Late Harvest and Edes Szamorodni created
What is Eszencia? How is it made and what does it taste like?
Very rare sweet wine made with the free-run juice of Aszu berries
- 450 g/L
- low abv
- high acid
- full-body
- extremely intense and age worthy
What does Late Harvest indicate? Describe the style of wine produced under this label.
What advantages exist from a wine business perspective?
- Without maceration of Aszu berries → instead late-harvested grapes with some % of botrytis are crushed and fermented
- Oak ageing not mandatory → many use SST
- 80-110 g/L sugar
- Lighter body and fresher fruit
- ready to sell only 12-16mnths after harvest
- lower % of bot → more consistent across vintages.
What does Szamorodni indicate? Describe the style of wine produced under this label.
2 styles produced from mixture of healthy and botrytised grapes
Edes
- sweet → min 45 g/L (most 89-100 g/L)
- short, 6mnth oak maturation → same quality as Aszu but fresher
Száraz
- aged under layer of flor for up to a decade → nutty, green apple aromas
To what extent has the production of dry Tokaji grown?
How has this impacted grape growing? (3)
Production has tripled in 5-yrs
- Producers planting on higher, windier hillsides esp. those above fog zone
- Open canopies
- Vine treatments e.g. fungicide
What kind of styles of dry Tokaji are made?
Old School very ripe grapes, full malo + new oak
New Wave
- less ripeness, SST ferment, focus on varietal or vineyard character
- (single vineyards are called Dűlő)
- Mainly Furmint but Hárslevelű and Muscat also
- EU PDO, varietally labelled wines → 85% of grape
What sub-categories does Tokaj’s PDO contain?
What is the applicable PGI called?
- Stylistic categories e.g. Aszu, Szamorodni
- Village, estate wines and single vineyards
PGI Zempléni:
int’l varieties + inexp wine produced at higher yields