Tokaj (Hungary) - L4.D3. Flashcards
What mountain ranges can be found in Tokaj?
The Zemplen mountains, which are part of the Carpatian mountains.
On which northern latitude can Tokaj be found?
48°-49° degrees
Which major Rivers run through the Tokaj region?
The Bodrog and Tisza, both coming together in the town of Tokaj.
Where does the Tokaj region lies within Hungary?
In the north-eastern part of Hungary and even partially in Slovakia, onto the foothills of the Zemplen mountains.
What climate can we find in Tokaj?
Moderate continental climate, warm summers and cold winters.
What is the advantage of the Zemplen Mountains in Tokaj?
They shelter the vineyards from the worst colds during winter period.
How many hours of sunshine does the Tokaj region get?
1,400-1,500hours of sunshine during the growing season.
How many rainfall falls in the Tokaj region?
500-600mm of rainfall, half of which falls during the growing season, which is low.
Is irrigation in Tokaj allowed?
No
Why are vineyards planted on slopes in Tokaj?
To protect them from winter cold, higher up the foothills gets less cold.
Which direction do the vineyards face in Tokaj?
South, South-east or South-west
What is the benefit of dry warm autumns in the Tokaj region?
They help shrivel the grapes and due to the 2 major Rivers it creates conditions (fog) for botrytis.
TorF: The region of Tokaj stands on hundreds of extinct volcanoes
True
What is the soil composition of Tokaj?
Deep volcanic bedrock with a complex variety of topsoils:
- Nyirok = volcanic (powerful wines)
- Loess, Sandy silt, high clay content (ligther/delicate wines)
The wine cellars in Hungary/Tokaj are famous. Why is that?
Because of their cushiony cellar fungus (zasmidium cellare) which grows here, helps to regulate the humidity.
How large is the winegrowing region of Tokaj?
5,747 hectares under vine
What is the vine density of the Tokaj region?
4,000-5,000 vines / hectare
Which training systems do they use?
Replacement cane pruning and Cordon pruning with VSP
Is hand harvest manditory when picking Aszu grapes?
Yes
In terms of labour: will it be a future hazard?
Yes, due to the fact that lof of workers go to other (economically better paid) European countries to go and work over there and not staying home to do the same job.
What disease hazards are found in Tokaj?
Powdery mildew and grey rot
Which pests do they need to look out for?
Wild boar and birds mainly
What is the av. yield of Aszu berries?
2-3hl/ha
What is the av. yield of Aszu berries?
2-3hl/ha
What is the av. yield of dry wines?
30-40hl/ha
T/F: The PDO Tokaji allows 6 varietals
True
What are the main varietals in Tokaji?
Furmint, Harslevelu and Sarga Muskotaly
Furmint (white)
*69% plantings
*Versatile, dry-sweet winestyles
*Late ripening and still having high acidity
*thick-skinned
*susceptible to botrytis (+)
*accumulate high sugars when ripening
Describe the Furmint winestyles
Can be very diverse from dry early drinking styles to age worthy (oak matured), full bodied wines with high alcohol.
Flavours of lemon, apple, pear, developed notes of honey & nuts | botrytis = dried apricots, orange & mango
Harslevelu (white)
*18% plantings
*mainly blending partner
*from dry - sweet wine styles
Describe the Harslevelu winestyle
Fruitier then Furmint, distinctive aromas of white peach and orange blossom.
Sarga Muskotaly (white)
*9% of plantings
*blending varietal, occassional mono-cepage
*mainly dry winestyles sometimes sweet
- adds floral notes to the blend
Where does Aszu stands for?
It means that the grapes are botrytized and shrivelled on the vine.
What does Aszu do to a berry?
It concentrates the barries with high sugar content and high acidity content, due to the shrivelling everything concentrates.
Is normal pressing possible for Aszu grapes?
No, there is hardly any juice left in the berry to be pressed.
When Aszu berries are picked in several passes what will happen next?
The berries will be turned into a paste by crushing /breaking them open through a pump or leave them uncrushed (to avoid bitterness).
Then maceration takes place.
There are 3 ways to macerate Aszu berries, which are those?
- Macerate in base wine (at least 12,08% abv)
- Macerate in fermenting must
- Macerate in fermenting must
All these methods draw out sugars and flavours, where option 1 creates the lightest style of wine and option 3 the most extracted and complex.
How long does the maceration takes for Aszu wines at what temperature?
Mainly for 12-60 hours at a temperature of 12-15C, which may rise to 16-20C.
What happens to the Aszu berries after maceration?
The juice will be drained and the berries pressed, and fermentation will continue or will start.
What type of yeasts are mainly used?
Cultured yeasts because those are reliable due to the high sugar content in the wine.
When the natural sugar content is high, fermentation can stop naturally, what are other ways to stop fermentation?
*Chilling the wine to 0 degrees
*Racking the wine
*Adding SO2
Tokaji Aszu PDO
*>18 months in (Hungarian) oak
*bottled in 500ml glasbottles
*min. of 120g of RS
Tokaji sweetness levels explained
(Puttonyos)
Aszu wines: 5-6 puttonyos = >150g/l RS
Aszu wines: 3-4 puttonyos = >120g/l RS
Late Harvest or Szamorodni wines: <120g/l RS
Describe a classic Aszu wine style
Is deep amber coloured, high acid, low/medium alcohol, intense aromas of orange peel, (dried) apricots, honey and nuts.
T/F Laws for adding Puttonyos as a sweetness indicator changed in 2013
True, now you can add the puttonyos when they represent the amount of residual sugar, but it is not manditory. It can’t be added below <120g/l RS.
Explain Eszencia
*extremely rare
*free run juice from Aszu berries
*Can take years to ferment due to extreme sugar levels
*not more than 5% abv
*by law; >450g/l RS
Describe a Eszencia wine style
Syrupy consistency, full bodied, pronounced high concentrated flavours, high acidity.
Explain Late Harvest as a wine
*“newest addition to the region = being lighter in style then Aszu”
*Lesser Aszu grapes are used in the ferment
*Little / no time in oak
*Released between 12-16 months after harvest
*>45g/l RS (mainly 90-110g/l)
Explain Szamorodni
*Traditional winestyle | whole bunches
*varying amounts of Aszu berries
*dry (szaras) - sweet (edes)
*>45g/l RS
*6 months in oak
*bottled in 500ml
T/F: Is the dry Szamorodni aged under a thin film of flor yeasts?
Yes, and this can be for up to 10 years without topping up.
Why is there a rise in more dryer styles of Tokaj and since when is this?
Since the 21st century, due to the demand of more lighter styles of (white) wines. Sweet wines fell out of fashion.
Vignerons changed their vineyard plantings due to the demand of lighter wine styles. How did they do that?
They planted more vineyards on higher elevations, above the fog line where the diurnal range is greater and in lesser influence of botrytis. So create berries good for lighter styles.
The winemaking process also changed when changing the winestyle from sweet to lighter styles, what has changed?
They use less (over)ripe berries
Stainless steel fermentations
Less intervention within the winery
The Dulo where introduced for what reason?
To have wines expressing terroir, a dulo is a single vineyard.
T/F: PDO wines labelled as single varietal wines must contain <80% of a specified varietal.
False it needs to be >85%
Since when dit Hungary adapt the PDO/PGI system?
Since 2004
The Tokaji PDO can be broken down in more levels, which ones?
- Village level
- Estate wines
- Designated vineyards (dulo)
As of which year PDO wines needed to be bottled in the region
2013
T/F: PGI Zempleni is used for wiens made from other (international) varietals
True
From how many growers does “ Grand Tokaj” sources their grapes, and how much does it regionally represents?
2,000 growers, being 35% of the region
What is the av. yearly production in Tokaj?
170,000hl
What is the av. yearly production of Aszu wines?
10%
What is the av. yearly production of dry wines?
21%
How large is the export market of Tokaji wines?
40%
What are the main export markets of Tokaji
Eastern Europe (cheap / non-botrytized mainly), China, France, UK and USA
