Tokaj Flashcards
Tokaji Aszu first mentioned when
1571
What stopped Tokaji’s global prestige of distribution to royal courts etc?
Hungary became a Communist state in 1945
Focus shifted from quality to quantity
Why could Hungary rebuild its vineyard scene quickly after communism?
More vineyards stayed in private hands than in other Eastern European countries during Communism
Early foreign investors in Tokaj (3)
AXA
Vega Sicilia
Hugh Johnson
Tokaj is in the foothills of what mountains?
Zemplen Mountains
Tokaj climate
Moderate continental
Summers are warm
Winters cold
Two major rivers in Tokaj?
Tisza and Bodrog
Rainfall in Tokaj
500-600mm per year (relatively low but about 50% is during growing season)
What latitude is Tokaj at?
48-49N
South, s-east and s-west slopes take maximum advantage of sunlight
Tokaj: conditions for shrivelling of grapes
Autumn dry and warm
Tokaj: conditions for development of botrytis
Autumn dry and warm
Bodrog River floods regularly = shallow marshes, water meadows
Moist air = morning fog in autumn
Warm sunnya afternoons control botrytis, limit grey rot
Volcanic influence in Tokaj is from what?
Hundreds of extinct volcanoes
Deep volcanic bedrock
What is nyirok?
Tokaj: volcanic soil producing most powerful wines
Tokaj: volcanic bedrock is soft. So what
Vines can root very deeply = water stress and nutrient deficiencies are rare
Also suitable to dig cellars underground
What is Zasmidium cellare?
Grey-black cushiony growth of cellar fungus
Helps regulate humidity
Tokaj
Traditional vine training in Tokaj?
Vines grown on single posts
Up to 10,000 v/ha
Still used in small old plots sometimes, but now been replaced with tressing
Typical vine training in Tokaj today
Grown on trellis
Ue replacement cane pruning or cordon training with VSP
densities 4,000-5,000 v/ha
Tokaj vineyards worked by hand or machine?
Both
Modern training allows mechanisation
Many steep slopes still worked by hand
And very careful selection needed in vineyard for Aszu berries = can’t be done by machine
Disease concerns in Tokaj?
Powdery mildew Grey rot (in wetter years)
Pests in Tokaj?
Wild boar
Birds
Tokaj Aszu: what kind of yields? Why?
Tiny: 2 or 3 hl/ha
Because berries have shrivelled on vine
Dry Tokaj: what are yields like
Kept relatively low to ensure quality
30-40hl/ha
Higher yields possible in warm, sunny years
Three important grapes (of six) permitted in Tokaji PDO?
Furmint
Harslevelu
Sarga Muskotaly
Sarga Muskotaly aka
Msucat Blanc a Petits Grains
Most planted grape in Tokaj?
Furmint
69% of all plantings
Furmint ripens early or late?
Late ripening
Needs long, sunny growing season to ripen fully
Furmint acidity?
High
Even when fully ripe, retains high acidity
Typical flavours for Furmint?
Lemon, apple and pear
Honey and nots with age
Botrytis: dried apricot, mango
Second most planted grape in Tokaj
Harslevelu
18% of plantings
Harslevelu style
Fruitier than Furmint
Distinctive aromas: white peach, orange blossom
Sarga Muskotaly: how much planted, what does it bring?
9% of plantings in Tokaj
Adds floral notes in blends
Also made as single varietal
What does Aszu mean in Hungarian?
Grapes that have been infected with botrytis and have shrivelled on the vine
Sugary juice inside Aszu grapes is extremely concentrated. So what?
Cannot be effectively extracted by normal pressing
Need to macerate: in must, fermenting must or base wine
= draw out sugars and flavours
Classic Tokaji Aszu style
Deep amber
High acid
Low to medium alcohol
Intense orange peel, apricots, honey
Implication for Aszu production in hotter, drier years?
Yields will be way down
Need humidity for botrytris
What do most producers do to Aszu grapes before maceration?
Mash them into a paste
Break or crush open in some way, pass through a pump
Some use uncrushed grapes to avoid bitter skins/seeds
How long is Azsu paste/grapes macerated for?
12-60 hours
Uncrushed grapes: regular punching down
What are the impacts of macerating Aszu grapes in different solutions (i.e. in must, in fermetning must, in wine)
Must: lightest style
Young finished wine: Next lightest style
Fermenting must: strongest extraction and most complex wine - but can extract unpleasant bitter, unripe
If base wine used for Aszu maceration, what does it need to be?
Min potential alcohol 12.08%
(in practise 14.5-15.5%, lowered by adding berries/paste)
Free to choose which grapes (Furmint and Harsevelu most common)
What happens after Aszu maceration?
(if in must or fermenting must)
juice is drained; Aszu paste/berries pressed; must fermented (or continues to ferment) to gain balance of sugar/alc.
Maturation for Azsu wines?
Min 18 months in oak - longer for some producers
Hungarian oak (from Zemplen Mountains) widely used
Traditionally 136-litre barrels (gonci) but now larger (300-500L)
Mix of new and older oak
What are gonci?
Traditional 136-litre barrels in Tokaj
Tokaj Aszu has to be bottled in what?
Traditional, clear glass, 500ml Tokaji bottle
What is the current puttonyos scale?
Set minimum RS levels
Three puttonyos = least residual sugar
Six puttonyos = most residual sugar
What is Tokaji Eszencia made from?
The tiny volume of syrupy free-run juice that trickels from Aszu berries
Extremely rare, extremely expensive
How long does Eszencia take to ferment? Why?
Can be years
Juice is so sweet
Only reaches low levels of alcohol (typically less than 5%)
Tokaji Esenzia style
Full bodied (syrupy) Low alcohol Sweet (min 450g/l) luscious Pronounced, concentrated High acid
Tokaji Late Harvest (vs Aszu)
Maceration process not used
Lower proprtion of botrytised grapes
Lighter bodied
Less concentrated
Legal min RS lower (only 45g/l) though most are 90-110g/l
Oak ageing not mandatory
Released much earlier, 12-16 mths after harvest
Szamorodni means what
“as it comes” (in Polish apparently)
Szamorodni made how
Whole bunches with varying amounts of healthy and botrytised grapes
Two different styles of Tokaji Szamorodni?
Sweet (édes)
Dry (száraz)
sweeter style more common
RS for sweet Tokaji Szamorodni (édes)
Min 45g/l
commonly 90-110g/l
Szamorodni ageing requirement?
Aged in oak for 6 months
shorter (more attractive) than for Aszu
Bottling requirement for Tokaji Szamorodni
Clear 500ml Tokaji bottle (same as Aszu)
How is dry Tokaji Szamorodni aged?
Under a thin film of flor (much thinner than in Sherry)
up to 10 years - no topping up
Protected from excess oxidation
develops nutty, green apple aromas
Historically dry Tokaji was produced why?
A byproduct, produced when botrytis didn’t develop
How is production level of dry Tokaji developing?
Tripled in last 5 years
Reflect move towards dry wines internationally
How can growers yield suitable grapes for dry Tokaji?
Need healthy grapes with no botrytis Plant new vineyards on higher, windier sites above fog zone Use more open canopies Appropriate treatments all to avoid rot
How has style of dry Tokaji changed?
Origianlly: very ripe grapes, full malo, new oak
More recently: less ripe berries, stainless steel, lower intervention = lighter body wines, more varietal character
What is Dulo?
Single vineyard wines in Tokaji
Most dry Tokaji made from what grape?
Furmint
But also Harslevelua nd muscat
What is the PGI in Tokaji?
PGI Zempléni (like the mountains)
Land under vine in Tokaj?
5,747ha in Tokaji PDO
Increasing = new, higher vineyards planted for high-quality dry wines
Barely half the potential area is planted
Who owns Grand Tokaj?
Hungarian state
What % of Tokaj production is exported?
40%
Tokaj production broken down by style/category?
Aszu: 10%
Dry wines: 21%
The rst: a lot of inexpensive, non botrytis, semi-sweet for local market
