WSET D3 - Tokaj Flashcards
Summarise the history of Tokaj wine.
18th century, Tokaj created one of the first controlled appellations, classifying its vineyards and decreeing villages were allowed to use the Tokaj name.
For centuries, Tokaji was one of the world’s most famous wines, enjoyed in royal courts across Europe (it offered sweetness before crystal sugar available). When Hungary became a Communist state in 1945, focus shifted from quality to quantity: wine often deliberately oxidised, sweetened, fortified and pasteurized.
During the Communist regime, more vineyards remained in private hands in Hungary, when Communism ended in 1989, producers in Tokaj were able to start rebuilding reputation quickly. Helped by the arrival of foreign investors such as AXA, Vega Sicilia and Hugh Johnson, winemaking has evolved considerably last 25 years with a return to fresher fruitier style of Aszú and development of a new generation of high-quality dry wines and new styles, such as Late Harvest.
What’s the climate like in Tokaj?
North-eastern of Hungary. It extends from the town of Tokaj into the foothills of the Zemplén Mountains towards the Slovakian border.
Tokaj has a moderate continental climate: summers are warm, winters can be cold, although sheltered from the worst cold, northerly winds by forested mountain peaks. The vineyards mainly planted on slopes which helps reduce the risk of winter cold and frost damage. Importantly at this latitude (48°–49°N), the slopes face south, south-west and south-east to take maximum sunlight. Rainfall around 500 - 600 mm per year. Although relatively low, half falls during growing season. Irrigation not permitted.
Autumns are warm and dry, providing ideal conditions for the shrivelling of the grapes. Two major rivers (Tisza and Bodrog) meet in the town of Tokaj; the Bodrog floods regularly creating shallow marshes and water meadows. Moist air results in frequent morning
fogs in autumn, ideal for botrytis. warm, sunny afternoons control development of botrytis and limit grey rot.
What are the soil types found in Tokaj?
Hundreds of extinct volcanoes. Deep volcanic bedrock overlaid by a complex variety soils, most significant are nyirok, a volcanic soil said to produce most powerful wines, and loess, a sandy silt with high clay content found particularly around Tokaj hill (west of the town) produce lighter, more delicate wines.
Soft volcanic bedrock means vines can root very deeply, making water stress and nutrient deficiencies rare. also ideal for digging cellars which widely used for ageing wine. These cellars are famous for grey-black cushiony growths of cellar fungus Zasmidium cellare, which believed to help regulate humidity.
What’s the Vineyard management like in Tokaj?
Traditionally grown on single posts at density up to 10,000 vines per hectare, still occasionally seen in small old plots but almost all now grown on trellis, replacement-cane pruning or cordon training with VSP at lower densities (4,000 - 5,000 vines/hectare).
Modern training systems allowed mechanisation. However many worked by hand, especially steeper slopes and, hand harvesting required for the careful selection of Aszú berries.
Main diseases are powdery mildew and, wetter years, grey rot. Managing canopy to ensure good air circulation particularly important for grapes intended for dry wine. Pests include wild boar and birds.
Aszú berries have shrivelled on vine, yields tiny (2 to 3 hL/ha). To ensure quality, yields for dry wines kept relatively low (30 to 40 hL/ha).
Possible to have higher yields in warm, sunny vintages, but poor years must controlled ensure ripeness.
What are the most important grape varieties used here?
6 permitted varieties in Tokaji PDO, most important being Furmint, Hárslevelű and Sárga Muskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains).
Describe Furmint.
Most planted with 69% all plantings.
Very versatile, capable of producing high- quality wines from dry to sweet. Late-ripening and needs Tokaj’s long, sunny growing season to ripen fully. Even fully ripe, retains high acidity.
Well-suited to production of sweet wines. Despite being thick-skinned, Furmint is particularly susceptible to botrytis, making it a vital component in Aszú wines. As they ripen, the grapes naturally accumulate high levels of sugar which further concentrated by botrytis, shrivelling and late harvesting; however is balanced by high acidity in even the sweetest wines.
Dry wines are in a range of styles, from intended to be drunk young to ageworthy examples; latter often being matured in oak. Due to the high sugar levels, they can be full-bodied with high alcohol. However, with improved viticultural practices now possible to get wines ripe with medium alcohol. Single-varietal dry wines are increasingly common.
Typical flavours include lemon, apple and pear which can be detected in all styles of wine. The wines develop notes of honey and nuts with age. Grapes affected by botrytis give flavours of dried apricot and mango.
Describe Hárslevelű.
Second most planted (18%). It produces wines fruitier than Furmint with distinctive white peach and orange blossom aromas. Hárslevelű appears mainly in a supporting role in blends, adding distinctive perfume, although sometimes made as varietal wine, both dry and sweet.
Describe Sárga Muskotály.
Sárga Muskotály accounts for 9% region’s vines. It adds floral notes in blends in both sweet and dry wines, but also appears as a varietal wine, mainly dry but occasionally sweet.
Explain the wine style Aszú?
Hungarian word for grapes infected with botrytis and shrivelled on the vine. The sugary juice is so concentrated cannot be effectively extracted by normal pressing, therefore macerated in must, fermenting must or base wine to draw out sugars and flavours. Classic Aszú is deep amber colour, high acidity with low to medium alcohol and intense aromas of orange peel, apricots and honey. The best can reach super-premium prices.
In autumn, foggy mornings allow botrytis to develop and breezy sunny afternoons shrivel the grapes. Warm, humid autumns encourage development of botrytis; in hotter, drier years, yields of Aszú wines will be significantly reduced.
Aszú grapes are picked individually in several passes through, time- consuming and labour-intensive. They then stored until required. Prior to maceration, most producers mash Aszú grapes into paste, usually by passing them through a pump. Some prefer to use uncrushed grapes to avoid bitterness from skins and seeds.
The paste or grapes are macerated usually for 12 - 60 hours. Where uncrushed grapes used, will be punched down regularly. Maceration takes place at around 12–15°C but may rise to 16–20°C with strongly fermenting must.
Maceration method depends on desired style of wine: maceration in must gives the lightest styles followed by young finished wine. Maceration in fermenting must gives the strongest extraction and most complex wines, but unless berries are both ripe and clean, can extract unpleasant bitter, unripe characteristics. Timing also affects final style: strongest extraction occurs when must is fermenting most actively early on while some producers prefer later stages for lighter extraction.
Where base wine is used, it must by law have minimum potential alcohol of 12.08% abv, though in practice often 14.5–15.5% abv (lowered by the addition Aszú berries/ paste). Winemakers are free to choose varieties to use (Furmint and Hárslevelű most common) and how botrytised the grapes that make this base wine are. Some prefer rich and botrytized base wine to give extra complexity and creaminess. Others prefer minimal botrytis to allow character of Aszú grapes to show through.
When maceration taken place in must or fermenting must, the juice is drained and the Aszú paste or berries are pressed. The must is then fermented (or continues to ferment) to gain the desired balance of sugar and alcohol. Some use ambient yeast, but many prefer cultured yeast for reliability, as high sugar levels can make fermentation difficult. Both stainless steel tanks and barrels are used for fermentation.
Depending on the desired style, some target a higher alcohol (12 to 13.5% abv) to produce a less sweet style. Fermentation may stop naturally, especially at higher sugar levels (180 g/L and above) and these wines will be naturally stable. However, many stop fermentation (by chilling or racking the wine or adding SO2) to avoid refermentation and to control styles.
Aszú wines must stored for minimum 18 months in oak, though some prefer longer. Hungarian oak, often from the Zemplén mountains above the region, is widely used for fermentation and ageing. Traditionally, wines were matured in small 136-litre barrels (known as gönci); however, most now switching to larger barrels (300 to 500L). Mixture of new and older oak in use. Aszú wines must be bottled in a traditional, clear-glass, 500 mL Tokaji bottle.
Until 2013, Aszú was classified by its sweetness, using the puttonyos scale. Traditionally, this counted number of pickers’ buckets or hods (puttony) of Aszú berries added to a traditional gönci barrel of must. However, recently it had been measured by set minimum residual sugar levels, with ‘three puttonyos’ having the least residual sugar and ‘six puttonyos’ denoting the most. In 2013, Tokaj regulations changed significantly: minimum residual sugar was increased to 120g/L, equivalent to previous minimum for five puttonyos. Wines with lower sugar are now labelled Late Harvest or Tokaji Édes Szamorodni depending on how they made. Aszú wines can be labelled as ‘five puttonyos’ or ‘six puttonyos’ (above 150 g/L residual sugar), but not mandatory. (Wines can be labelled ‘three puttonyos’ or ‘four puttonyos’ if producer wishes as long as they have a minimum of 120g/L of residual sugar.)
Explain the wine style Eszencia.
Extremely rare, extremely expensive, made from tiny volume of syrupy free-run juice that trickles from Aszú berries.
The juice is so sweet that it can take years to ferment and even then only reaches very low alcohol (usually less than 5% abv). Minimum residual sugar 450 g/L, full-bodied (with the consistency of syrup) with pronounced, highly concentrated flavours. High acidity, can retain their freshness and therefore age for a very long time.
Explain the wine style late harvest.
Recently, as a reaction to time and investment needed to produce and mature Aszú wines, a new style of Tokaj has been emerging produced in similar way to sweet wines found in other wine-producing regions (the maceration process is not used). Late Harvest wines are typically produced with lower proportion of botrytized grapes. They tend to be lighter bodied and less concentrated than Aszú. Minimum residual sugar s only 45g/L although most are 90 -110g/L. Oak ageing not compulsory and many spend little or no time in oak as producers aim to emphasise the fruit characteristics. The result is Late Harvest wines are ready for release much earlier than Aszú, typically 12 - 16 months after harvest.
Explain the wine style Szamorodni.
Polish word meaning ‘as it comes’, indicating that this traditional style made from whole bunches with varying amounts of healthy and botrytized grapes. It’s produced in either a sweet (édes) style or as a dry (száraz) wine, depending on level of ripeness and botrytis.
The sweeter style is more common. The minimum sugar level is 45g/L, although most bottled at around 90 - 110g/L. Following a change in 2016, the wines need only aged in oak for 6 months. As a result, a number of producers are placing greater focus on the category, seeing it as a more authentic Tokaji than the recent Late Harvest style. Bottled in the same traditional,clear, 500 mL Tokaji bottle, the best édes wines can be equivalent quality to Aszú, in a fresher style.
Dry Szamorodni is aged under a thin film of flor yeast (much thinner than Sherry) for up to 10 years without topping up. The wine is protected from excessive oxidation and it develops nutty and green apple aromas.
What are the dry wines like in Tokaj?
Dry wines were essentially a by-product, produced when botrytis did not develop. As in many regions whose reputation was built on sweet wines, there has been a significant move towards dry wines in 21st century and some high quality examples are now being produced. Production tripled last five year. Producers are planting new vineyards on higher and windier sites above the fog zone and using more open canopies and appropriate vine treatments to prevent rot.
At first, dry wines were made from very ripe grapes, full malolactic conversion and lengthy periods of ageing in new oak barrels. However since then, many producers have reined in their approach, using less ripe berries, fermenting in stainless steel and generally taking a less interventionist approach to produce lighter-bodied wines which better show varietal character. They are also increasingly looking to express terroir and a number of single-vineyard (Dűlő) wines are now produced.Dry wines are most often made from Furmint but Hárslevelű and Muscat are also used and blends are also made. Under PDO, wines labelled as a single varietal must contain at least 85% of the grape.
What the wine law and regulations?
Hungary joined the EU in 2004 and has adopted a PDO/PGI system. Tokaji PDO is further broken down into more specific categories of village and estate wines and certain designated vineyards can be named on the label. From 2013 vintage, PDO wines must be bottled in the region.
The various styles of Tokaji PDO (e.g. Aszú and Szamorodni) are defined by law. Many of the various regulations regarding grape growing and production for these styles has been covered in the preceding sections.
There is a PGI (Zempléni) which is used for wines made from other grapes, in particular international varieties, and inexpensive wines produced at higher yields.
Wine business.
5,747 hectares under vine in Tokaji PDO. Increasing as new, higher vineyards being planted to produce high-quality dry wines, barely half of potential vineyard area has been planted.
Average holdings is small, 1- 2 ha, many growers have contracts with larger producers to provide grapes, especially Aszú berries. eg, state-owned Grand Tokaj sources from over 2,000 growers and produces around 35% region’s wines.
Aszú around 10% production and dry wines 21%. Of the rest, a significant amount is inexpensive, non-botrytised wine (often semi-sweet by stopping fermentation early) destined for the home market and other Eastern European countries. Only small amounts of Tokaji are exported outside Eastern Europe, with China, France, UK and USA being largest markets. Exports around 40% production.
