Tokaji Flashcards
Basics of Tokali wines
Meaning of Tokaj?
Town name, Tokaj
Meaning of Tokaji?
Means from Tokaj and refers to the wine Tokaji.
Hungary’s most famous wine is?
Tokaij Aszu
Hungary’s most famous region is?
Where is it?
Tokaj-Hegyalja
200km NE of Budapest.
Tokaji means?
from Tokaj
Aszu means?
Dried Noble rot grapes.
Climate?
Long sunny summers
Dry sunny autumns
Autumn mists for botrytis.
Name the rivers and mention the critical role they play for wine grape growing.
Bodrog + Tisza
Create autumn mists which encourage Autumn mists.
Describe the grapes grown in Tokaj-Hegyalja
- Furmint 65% of plantings
- Harslevelu 30%
- Yellow Muscat
Cellars
Network of 700 year old cellars dug into the Volcanic Riolite Tuff
Noble cellar mildew
explain the role of the Noble cellar mildew in the riolite tuff
Cladosporium cellare.
Removes nourishment from poinsonous fungi that give a bad odour so the air remains healthy.
It regulates humidity by absorbing moisture when too high and releasing when low.
Explain the picking process
- individual berry picking.
- Traditionally : Placed in vats and trampled into a paste called Aszu dough.
- Today: Berries into steel drums where the wight of the berries sqashes them. Free run juice is called the essence or “Essencia”
- The remainder and the grapes not infected with botrytis are pressed with the must called Szamorodni as base wiine for Aszu.
Pronounce Szamorodni
Sam-oh-rodney
Explain the winemaking process
- The base wine must is poured onto the paste and left for 24-48 hours to ectract sweetnes and aromas from the botrytised fruit.
- Pressing.
- Racking into wooden 75,6l casks
- flour development
- fermentation of 1-2 years.
Explain the making process of Essencia.
The berries are placed in large vats with small holes in the bottom and the free run juice is collected in glass balloons.
Very high sugar levels so slow fermentation over years.
2-6% alcohol. Seldom over 6%.
