Tokaji

Question 1

brief history of tokaj

Answer 1

1. for centuries one of the most important wines in the world, drunk all over royal courts in europe
2. 1945 hungary becomes a communist state, switch from quality to quantity
3. as most land remained in private hands when the comunism ended in 1989 tokaj was able to build back faster
4. investors such as axa, vega sicilia, hugh johnson

Question 2

general climate of Tokaj

Answer 2

moderate continental (warm summers, winters can be cold)

Question 3

main climatic influences in tokaj

Answer 3

1. shelter from north cold winds by forested mountains peak
2. latitude (48-49), most vineyards are planted in slopes south east-west facing
3. tisza/bodrog rivers create morning fogs + sunshine helps retain noble rot and cancel grey rot

Question 4

rainfall in tokaj

Answer 4

500-600mm (low but no irrigation is permitted)

Question 5

main soils of tokaj and wine styles

Answer 5

1. nyrok (volcanic soils) - powerful wines
2. loess (sandy silt with high clay content, mostly around the tokay hill) - lighter wines

Question 6

advantages of volcanic soils in tokaj

Answer 6

1. roots can go very deep (no problems of water stress or nutrients deficiency)
2. cellar are created underground with no problem of temperature as the growth of the fungus Zosmidium cellare helps regulating humidity

Question 7

vine density and training in tokaj - before and after

Answer 7

originally - single post training, 10k per hectare now - replacement cane/cordon with VSP, 4/5k per hectare

Question 8

harvest in tokaj

Answer 8

mostly mechanised

for expensive sweet or steep slopes all by hand (labour is not a problem atm)

Question 9

main diseases and pest in tokaj

Answer 9

powdery mildew, grey rot (canopy management for air circulation) wild boars and birds

Question 10

yields for dry wines and aszu berries

Answer 10

dry - 30/40hl/ha
aszu 2/3hl/ha

Question 11

most important varieties in tokaj

Answer 11

furmint
harslevelu
sarga muskotaly (muscat a petit blanc)

Question 12

most planted grape in tokaj

Answer 12

furmint 69%

Question 13

furmint main features

Answer 13

1. late ripening (tokaj sunny seasons)
2. thick skin but still subsceptibile to botrytis
3. produces high level of sugar

Question 14

furmint when dry style main problem

Answer 14

has high sugar so can have high alcohol levels winemaking techniques to ensure a lower alcohol level

Question 15

harslevelu in blends

Answer 15

fruitier wines supports with perfume in the blend

Question 16

what aszu means?

Answer 16

hungarian term for grapes with botrytis

Question 17

why maceration is important in aszu styles?

Answer 17

because sugars are so concentrated that cannot be extracted by normal pressing

Question 18

pre maceration technique in aszu

Answer 18

grapes are mashed into a paste (crushing or breaking the grapes, or passing them through a pump even if there’s risk of bitterness from skin and seeds)

Question 19

aszu general maceration time

Answer 19

12-60 hours

Question 20

maceration aszu temperatures

Answer 20

12-15 up to 16-20

Question 21

aszu maceration types and styles

Answer 21

1. maceration in must (light styles)
2. maceration in young finished wine (2nd lightest)
3. maceration in fermenting must (strongest extraction, most complex wines)

Question 22

alcohol in aszu

Answer 22

minim 12.08% by law

the base wine is always around 14.5/15.5 which is then lowered by the aszu sweetness

recently there has been a trend of higher alcohol levels around 12 to 13.5 for a less sweet style

Question 23

post maceration in aszu

Answer 23

wine is drained off and azsu paste/erries are press and the must is then fermented to get balanced of sugar and alcohol

(both ambient and cultured even if latter mostly used)

Question 24

aszu sugar levels and how these levels are controlled

Answer 24

180g/l

fermentation usually stops naturally because of high sugar levels but many prefers to stop fermentation bu chilling/racking or add SO2

Question 25

aszu maturation

Answer 25

min 18 months oak (usually longer) traditionally in gonci (136lt barrels) now into 300/500 barrels) mixed new and old

Hungarian oak (from Zeplen mountains) both fermentation and ageing

Question 26

aszu is bottled in…

Answer 26

traditional 500ml tokaji bottle

Question 27

pre 2013 tokaj aszu classification

Answer 27

puttonyos scale (up to 6) measured by number of picker buckets (puttony) added to a gonci barrell

Question 28

post 2013 tokaji classification

Answer 28

min residual sugar is 120g/l = five puttonyos only 5 or 6 (150g/l or more) can be labelled as azsu (not mandatory)

if lower needs to be labelled as late harvest or edes szamorodni

Question 29

what is aszu eszencia?

Answer 29

wine made from free run juice of aszu

takes years to ferment, usually 5% alcohol, 450g/l minimum sugar

full body, concentrated flavours

Question 30

tokaj late harvest main features (differences between aszu type)

Answer 30

1. no maceration process
2. less botrytis in grapes
3. min residual 45g/l (usually around 90/110g/l)
4. oak ageing is compulsory (many use stainless steel to retain fruit)
5. earlier release between 12-16 months

Question 31

what szamorodni means?

Answer 31

as it comes in polish

Question 32

what szamorodni means in winemaking terms

Answer 32

mixture of normal and botrytis grapes

Question 33

szamorodni styles and features

Answer 33

1. sweet (edes) - 45g/l minimum (90 to 110 generally), 6 months ageing oak, same tokaji bottle for aszu, many producers are putting a lot of effort into this style as it is more traditional and authentic than late harvest, basically are aszu in fresher styles
2. dry (szaraz) - aged up to 10 years with no top up under a thin film of flor yeast

Question 34

what is a Dulo in hungary?

Answer 34

single vineyard

Question 35

main problems for producer of rising category of dry wines in tokaj

Answer 35

used to be by product of sweet and then production tripled in 5 years

they had to learn how to make dry wines:

1. planting higher sites away from fog
2. canopies techniques to prevent rot
3. use less ripe berries
4. focus on single vineyards

Question 36

what is the PGI Zempleni for

Answer 36

wines made from other grapes, especially international or inezpensive higher yields wines from the area

Question 37

average holding of tokay

Answer 37

1-2ha growers contact larger producers so sell the grapes

Question 38

biggest producer in tokaj

Answer 38

state owned Grand Tokaj accounts for 35% of total production

Question 39

general production %

Answer 39

aszu 10%
dry 21%
rest is inexpensive no-botrytis wines for home market or eastern europe

Question 40

export of tokaj

Answer 40

small amounts mostly to china, france, uk, us
40% of production is export