Chap 24: Tokaj Flashcards
Where is the region of Tokaj?
In the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the far north east of Hungary and close to the Slovakian border
Describe the climate of Tokaj
(Cool, Mod, Warm)
Moderate climate
Where are the best vineyards of Tokaj located?
On hillside slopes with southerly aspects
How are the conditions created for noble rot to develop in Tokaj?
By the Bodrog and Tisza rivers and their many tributaries help generate the necessary early morning humidity for the development of noble rot.
What are the three principal grape varieties used for the creation of Tokaji?
Furmint
Hárslevelű
Sárga Muskotály
Often blended for the making of Tokaj
What is the most widely planted variety used in the making of Tokaji?
Furmint
Describe Hungarian wines made from Furmint
* Acid
* Flavors when young
* Flavors when aged
Concentrated, high acid wines with flavours of apples when young & nuts and honey when aged
What is the principal grape variety used for Aszú wines?
Furmint
Why is Furmint better known for Aszú wines than dry wines?
Due to its late-ripening and susceptibility to botrytis
What does Hárslevelű contribute to a blend?
Is it early or late-ripening?
Contributes perfume to a blend
Late-ripening
By what more common name is Sárga Muskotály known?
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
What is Sárga Muskotály used for in blends?
Its aromatic qualities
What styles are Tokaji made into?
Sweet wines & dry wines
What is unique about the packaging of sweet Tokaji wines? What is the difference between the packaging for sweet vs. dry Tokaji wines?
Sweet wines are sold in 50cl bottles & dry wines are in 75cl bottles
Describe a producer’s output during an average vintage in Tokaj
Depending on the degree of noble rot development, a producer will often make a number of different styles
How do producers allow for different styles in Tokaj?
They may separate the grapes into three different categories during the harvest
What is the Hungarian name for rotten grapes?
Aszú
How will appropriate grapes be separated during harvest in Hungary?
Pickers will pass through the vineyards several times, selecting individual aszú grapes
The remainder will be picked separately
What does Szamorodni mean?
‘As it comes’
What is Szamorodni?
It involves picking bunches partially affected by noble rot
What is the role of dry Tokaji wines unaffected by botrytis?
Gaining in importance
Allows producers to make wine in years where there is less noble rot
Describe the range of styles of dry Tokaji
Vary in style from simple, unoaked, early-drinking wines to more concentrated, age-worthy blends, which are often fermented and matured in new oak
What are dry Tokaji wines usually made from?
Furmint
What is Tokaj Szamorodni?
Thew wines are made from the grapes harvested as Szamorodni and may be dry or sweet, depending on the amount of noble rot present.
Even the dry wines will show noble rot charector.
What are the Hungarian terms for dry and sweet?
Dry: Száraz
Sweet: Édes
Describe the ageing requirements for Szamorodni wines?
They must be aged in cask for a minimum of 6 months and only released from the winery from the Jan in the second year after harvest. Most are aged even longer.
Why are casks for dry styles of Tokaj Szamorodni not completely filled?
Casks are not completely filled to allow for flor-like yeast to form naturally on the wine
Which wine has a similar character to Szamorodni?
Fino Sherry
What is the result of flor not being used for sweet Tokaji Szamorodni?
They may have an oxidative character
What is the new trend for maturing sweet Tokaji Szamorodni?
To fill the casks completely for sweet wines, avoiding the risk of oxidative character developing
Describe the process of making Aszú wines
- Starts with a base wine of healthy grapes.
- Before, during or after fermentation, Aszú berries are macerated in the base wine
- Mixture is pressed and matured in oak
How long is Aszú wine macerated for?
12 - 60 hours
How were Aszú berries traditionally treated before maceration for Tokaji? What is different now and why?
They were crushed into a paste, but are now using them uncrushed to avoid the extraction of bitter flavors.
How is wine sweetness determined for Tokaji?
By the amount of Aszú berries used
What is the Hungarian unit of sweetness?
The puttonyos
Describe classic Aszú Tokaji
* Color
* Acidity
* Aromas
* Flavors
- Deep amber
- High acidity
- Intense aromas
- Flavours of orange peel, apricots and honey
Describe the development of Tokaji concentration based on sweetness level.
The wines become more concentrated and intense as they rise up the sweetness scale
What are Tokaji Eszencia wines? Where are they commercially available?
Extremely rare sweet wines from Tokaj which are rarely available outside the region of production
How are Tokaji Eszencia wines made?
- Using just the free-run juice of the aszú berries
- The must is so sweet, the wines can take years to ferment –> even after that time, the wines remain very low in alc (usually less than 5% abv)
What is the legal minimum of risidual sugar for Tokaji Eszencia?
450 g/L
Describe Tokaji Eszencia:
* Acidity
* Flavors
* Ageing potential
They are balanced by very high acidity and have an enormously concentrated flavour
Can mature and retain freshness for a century or more
How are Tokaj’s modern sweet wines made? How are the labelled?
From grapes that spend an extended time on the vine and labelled as ‘Late Harvest’. Some use botrytis infected fruit.
How is vinification of Tokaj’s modern sweet wines different to that of Aszú wines?
When botrytis is present, the botrytised grapes are fermented (process used for Sauternes or TBA), rather than using the maceration process of Aszú wines
Other than the fermentation process, how else are Tokaj’s modern sweet wines made differently to Aszú wines?
They may be matured for less time than Aszú wines
Since when have producers of Tokaj been working with new regulations with regard to wine making and labelling?
2013
What different styles of Tokaj PDO are defined by law?
Aszú and Eszencia
What was puttony traditionally vs. how is it defined now?
Traditionally: A picker’s bucket, and this measure described the number of bucket of aszu grapes that went into a barrel of wine.
Now, the number of puttonyos stated on the wine label equates to a min. residual sugar concentration.
What is the minimum risidual sugar that a Tokaj Aszu can have?
What # puttonyos does it equate to?
Minimum of 120g/L residual sugar = five puttonyos
How much residual sugar does six puttonyos equate to?
a wine with a minimum of 150g/L residual sugar
What are the minimum ageing restrictions for Tokaji Aszú?
18 months in oak vessels which can be new or old
Wine could only be released from January in the fourth year after harvest
Prior to the 2013 vintage, wines with lower levels of residual sugar could be labelled what?
3 or 4 puttonyos
Producers can still label their wines as 3 or 4 puttonyos, but what is new level of required minimum sugar for these wines?
120g/L residual sugar
