Tokaj Flashcards
Climate
Northeast corner of Hungary
Extends from foothills of Zemplen mountains towards Slovakian border
Moderate continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. Sheltered from worst of the cold northerly winds by forested mountain peaks.
Mainly on slopes which helps reduce risk of winter cold and frost. At a latitude of 48 - 49N important that slopes face south west and south east for sun exposure. Sunlight hours between 1400 and 1500 hours.
Rainfall 500 - 600mm / yr. Half during growing season. Irrigation not permitted.
Autumns warm and dry for ideal conditions for shriveling on the vine. The Tisza and Bodrog rivers meet in the town of Tokaj. Moist air results in frequent morning fogs in the autumn, ideal for botrytis. Warm sunny afternoons limit grey rot.
Soil
Region of hundreds of extinct volcanos
Deep volcanic bedrock overlaid with a complex variety of soils.
Most significant is nyirok, volcanic soil producing most powerful wines
Loess, a sandy silt with high clay content found around the Tokaj hill producing lighter more delicate wines
Soft volcanic bedrock means wines can root deeply making water stress and nutrient deficiencies rare
Also ideal for digging cellars used for ageing wine. Cellars famous for grey-black cushiony growths of fungus Zasmidium cellare which regulates humidity
Vineyard Management
Traditionally single posts at 10,000 vines / ha and still occasionally seen in old vineyards.
Now almost all on trellises with replacement cane or cordon VSP between 4,000 and 5,000 vines/ha
Modern training has allowed for mechanization. But many still worked by hand, specially on steeper slopes. Hand harvesting required for Aszu berries. Labor avail not a prob now but maybe in the future
Powdery mildew and grey rot are main diseases. Canopy management for air important for dry wines. Wild boars and birds are pests.
Because Aszu berries shrivel on the vine, yields are tiny at 2 - 3 hl/ha. Yields for dry wines are also kept low at 30 - 40 hl/ha.
Grape Varieties
Six permitted with most important: Furmint, Harslevelu, and Sarga Muskotaly (Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains).
Furmint
69% of all plantings
Very versatile and can produce high quality from dry to sweet.
Late ripening and needs long sunny season to fully ripen. But retains acidity when fully ripe.
Well suited to sweet wine production. Despite being thick skinned, susceptible to botrytis, making it vital to Aszu. Naturally accumulate high levels of sugar. which is balanced by high acidity.
Dry are produced in a range of styles from young drinking to age worthy and matured in oak. Due to high sugar levels often are high in alcohol. but lower alcohols are being produced. Single varietal more common now.
Lemon, apple, pear. honey and nuts with age.
Other grapes
Harslevelu: 18% of total, fruitier than furmint. white peach and orange blossom. mainly a supporting role in blends. sometimes varietal both dry and sweet.
Sarga Muskotaly: Muscat blanc a petits grains: 9% and adds floral notes. mainly dry occasionally sweet.
Styles of Wine
Aszu Eszencia Late Harvest Szamorodni Dry Wines
Aszu
Hungarian word for grapes infected with botrytis and shriveled on the vine.
Juice so concentrated it cannot be extracted via normal pressing. Grapes are macerated in must, fermenting must, or base wine to draw out sugars and flavors.
Classics are deep amber, high acid, low to med alcohol, intense orange peel, apricot, honey. super prem.
In autumn, foggy morns allow botrytis to develop, and breezy sunny afternoon shrivel grapes. Warm, humid autumns encourage development of botrytis. In hotter drier years, yiels of Aszu sig reduced.
Hand harvested with several passes. Stored till necessary.
Mashed into a paste, by crushing them via passing through a pump. Some use uncrushed to avoid bitterness from skins and seeds.
Paste or grapes are macerated for 12 - 60 hours. If grapes, punched down reg. Maceration at 12 - 15C but may rise to 16 - 20C if using fermenting must.
Choice of maceration depends on style. Maceration in must is lighted style, then young finished wine. In fermenting must gives strongest extraction and most complex wine, but can result in bitterness and unripeness if berries aren’t ripe and clean. Timing of maceration impacts. strongest extraction when must is fermenting most actively early on.
If base wine used must have min 12.08%abv but usually 14.5 - 15.5%. Furmint and Harslevelu most common and may have some botrtytized elements. Some prefer a rich botrytized wine for more character and creaminess. Some minimal so Aszu shines through.
When maceration takes place in must or fermenting musts, juice is drained and Aszu berries or paste is pressed. The must is then fermented (or continues) to desired sugar and alcohol. Many use cultured yeast to reliably ferment in high sugar. Stainless and barrels.
Fermentation may stop naturally, esp at high sugar levels (180 g/l and up) and these are stable. Many stop fermentation by chilling and SO2 to avoid referemntation and control style.
Must be stored min 18 mo in oak. Hungarian oak from Zemplen mountains used. Matured in small 136l barrels (gonci) but now moving to larger 300L to 500L. Mix of new and old. Must be bottled in traditional 500ml Tokaj bottle.
Until 2013 classified by level of sweetness using puttonyos scale which counted number of buckets (puttony) of Aszu grapes added. Now set by residual sugar with three puttonyos least and six most. Min is 120g/l (which was 5 puttonyos). Five or six puttonyos is above 150g/l and 3 or 4 for 120.
Eszencia
Very rare and expensive and made in tiny volumes
Made from free run juice that trickles from Aszu berries.
So sweet it can take years to ferment and even then only reach 5% abv. Min RS is 450g/l. Wines are full bodied (syrupy) with pronounced flavors. High in acidity and can age for years.
Late Harvest
A new style emerging to combat the time and labor of the Aszu process. Do not use the maceration process.
Lower proportion of botrytized grapes than Aszu and lighter bodied and less concentrated.
Min 45g/l with most b/n 90 and 100 g/l RS
Oak aging is not compulsory and most see little to no oak, spending time in stainless. to emphasize fruit character.
Ready for release much sooner; 12 - 16 mo after harvest.
Szamorodni
Polish for “as it comes”
Traditional style made from whole bunches with varying amounts of healthy and botrytized grapes.
Produced as either sweet (edes) or dry (szaraz) depending on level of ripeness and botrytis.
Sweeter style more common. Min RS of 45g/l; but most 90 to 110 g/l. Must be aged in oak for 6 mo. The best can be as good as Aszu but fresher.
Many now focusing on this style as it’s shorter than Aszo and more authentic than late harvest.
Dry is aged under a thin layer of flor yeast (much thinner than Sherry) for up to 10 years without topping up. Protected from excessive oxidation and nutty green apple aromas.
Traditional 500ml Tokaji bottle.
Dry Wines
Historically a by-product for when botrytis did not develop
But now production has tripled in line with a general move to drier styles
Need healthy grapes with no botrytis. Planting new vineyards on higher and windier sites above the fog zone. More open canopies and rot treatments
At first, very ripe grapes, full malo and lengthy oak aging. Now reining in. Less ripe berries, stainless, and less intervention for lighter style with varietal character. Looking to express terroir and some single vineyard (Dulo)
Most often Furmint, but Harslevelu, Muskotaly and Kabar also used and blends are made.
Single varietally labeled wines must be 85%
Wine Laws & Regulations
Adopted the PDO / PGI when joined the EU
Tokaji PDO is broken down into village and estate wines and some vineyards can be on the label. From 2013 vintage PDO wines must be bottled in the region.
The styles of Aszu and others are determined by law.
Zempleni PGI for wines from other grapes, particularly international and inexpensive wines from higher yields than PDO permits.
Wine Business
5,747 ha in Tokaji PDO and increasing as half the potential land is planted
Avg size b/n 1 and 2ha; many growers have contracts with larger producers (esp Aszu). State owned Grand Tokaj sources from 2,000 growers and makes 35% of region’s wines.
162,000hl in 2017. Aszu is around 10% and dry wines 21% (with vintage var). A lot of the rest is inexpensive non botrytis wine (often semi-sweet by stopping fermentation) for home market and EE.
Exports are 40%
