Tokaj Flashcards
What is the climate in Tokaj?
Moderate, continental
What are the two rivers which, combined with their estuaries generate the morning humidity necessary for noble rot?
Bodrog
Tisza
What is the most widely planted variety in Tokaj?
Furmint
Describe a dry Furmint wine.
(acid, flavour in youth, flavours with age)
These wines can be premium
High acid
Flavours of apples
Honey and nuts with age
What makes Furmint a choice grape for botrytised wines?
Late ripening
Susceptible to rot
Aside from Furmint, what two grapes are relevant to Tokaj? What do they contribute to a blend?
Sarga Muskotaly (Muscat Blanc a Petite Grains)
Harslevelu
Both contribute perfumed aromatics
Grape pickers may seperate grapes into what three catagories?
- Aszu - individual botrytis grapes
- Bunches that are unaffected
- Szamorodni - ‘as it comes’ (partially affected bunches)
What are the 5 styles of wine produced in Tokaj?
Dry Tokaji Szamorodni Tokaji Aszu Tokaji Eszencia Modern sweet styles
Dry Tokaj is gaining in importance and is made in a full range of styles, unoaked, oaked, simple, age-worthy. What is the main grape used?
Furmint
Tokaji Szamorodni wines can be dry or sweet depending on?
How much noble rot is present
What are the ageing requirements for Tokaji Szamorodni?
Minimum in cask for 6 months
Can only be released from the winery from Jan 1st of the second year after harvest
What is significant about cask ageing for Tokaji Szamorodni dry wine and sweet?
Casks are not filled for either resulting in flor-like yeast developing on dry wines and oxidative characters in sweet wines
What is a modern trend for cask ageing sweet Tokaji Szamorodni?
Filling the casks to minimise oxidisation
What are the four steps of Tokaji Aszu winemaking?
- Starts with a base wine/juice made from healthy grapes
- Either before, during and/or after fermentation the ‘aszu’ berries are macerated in the base wine for usually between 12-60 hours
- The mixture is pressed before
- Maturation in oak
What is the unit used to measure the sweetness of aszu wines?
puttony
What was originally used in the maceration stage of aszu wine sweetening, rather than whole berries?
Why has this fallen out of favour?
A paste of ground aszu berries
Using uncrushed berries avoids the extraction of bitter flavours
List the colour, acidity and three flavours of classic Tokaji Aszu?
Deep Amber
High acid
Apricots, Honey, Orange peel
What will happen to Tokaji Aszu wines as they slide up the sweetness scale?
Become more concentrated and intense
What is the name of the extremely rare style of Tokaji seldom found outside its area of production?
Eszencia
What is Tokaji Eszencia made from? How long might it take to ferment the juice? Why?
Free run juice from aszu berries
Can take years to ferment due to the fact that the must is so sweet
What is the legal minimum level of residual sugar in Tokaji Eszencia?
450g/L
What is the general ABV a Tokaji Eszencia might be able to reach given the sugar content?
Less than 5%
How long can a Tokaji Eszencia mature for while retaining their freshness?
A century or more
What are modern style sweet wines made from in Tokaj?
What are they labelled generally?
Late harvest grapes
Late Harvest
Are botrytis grapes ever used in modern style sweet Tokaj? What is done with the grapes?
Yes
Fermented with the late harvest grapes
