Tokaj Flashcards
What did the region of Tokaj used to be called?
Tokaj-Hegyalja (foot-hills)
What is the name of the mountain range important to the region of Tokaj?
Carpathian Mtns.
What is the climate like in Tokaj?
Continental with long humid Autumns
What are the soils like in Tokaj?
Volcanic with Loess and clay
On what aspect of the hills are the best vineyards located?
South facing.
What is the original classification of the Tokaj wines called?
Rákóczy
What are the names of the two rivers that frame the Tokaj region?
Tisza
Bodrog
How many producers are now considered to be first growth?
74
What are the two principal grapes of the region?
Furmint
Hárslevelű
What are the other grapes used in the production but more rarely seen?
Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petite Grains), Zéta (Oremus), Kabar and Kövérszőlő are authorized but generally used in small quantities.
Why is the Furmint grape so critical to the production of Tokaji Aszú?
It is naturally high in acid - particularly conducive to botrytis.
What is the most fundamental component of the Tokaji wines?
Aszú berries - berries that have been affected by Botrytis Cinerea
Did Botrytised wines in Hungry predate those in Germany?
Yes.
What are some of the leading estates that produce Tokaj now? After the rebound from the fall of communism.
Royal Tokaji Company
Vega Sicilia’s Tokaj Oremus
Disznókõ
Királyudvar
What is the difference between Tokaji and Tokaj?
Tokaji is the ajectival form that refers to the wine. Tokaj is the name of the overall region and the region at the convergence of the two rivers.
Traditionally what are the Aszu berries collected in?
Hand picked into Puttony - which are roughly 25 kg in size
What does the term Esszencia refer to?
It is the wine made from the free run juice before the pressing of the Aszu berries.
What determines the final sweetness of a Tokaji Azsu wine?
How many puttony added to a gönc
What is a gönc?
A Hungarian Oak cask of 136L
What was the original indication of sweetness on the label before 2013?
The # of punttonyos. Tokaji Aszu was 3-6 puttonyos
What are the current 2013 onward requirements for Aszu wine from Tokaj?
Simply labeled “Aszú”;
3 years w/ min. 18 months in barrel
At least 120 g/l of residual sugar and achieve an actual
At least 9%
What was the preferred Tokaji of the Czars?
Esszencia
What are the Esszencia wines like?
They take forever - up to ten years to ferment all the way which means just barely reaching 4-6% alc.
At least 450g/l residual
Richer than honey.
What is Tokaji Szamorodni?
(“as it comes”) is produced from a mixture of aszú and non-aszú grapes and is often oxidative in style as it is matured in cask for a minimum of two years—sometimes under a film-forming yeast similar to flor
What are the two styles of Tokaji Szamorodni that can be made?
édes (sweet)
száras (dry)
What is the Circle of Mád?
A small contingent of producers committed to elevating the stature of dry wines in the region founded by István Szepsy
István Szepsy is a key founder of what two producers?
Johnson’s Royal Tokaji Company and Királyudvar
Besides Tokaji Azsu wines what are the other types of wines allowed to be made under the Tokaji label?
Late Harvest wines in varying sweetness levels and dry wines.
How are the Fordítás and Máslás wines made in Tokaj?
product of refermenting wine with the pressed paste or spent lees, respectively, of Tokaji Aszú
When did Tokaj, Tokay and Tocai become 100% owned by the region of Tokaj?
2007