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Tokaji Aszú wines were described by France’s King Louis XIV as, “The king of wine, and wine of kings.” High praise indeed. The deliciously sweet and enduring Tokaji wines have graced European dining tables for many centuries and have been an integral part of Christie’s auctions.  I was delighted to be given the opportunity to travel to Hungary, and then 250 kms north east to Tokaj and spend a weekend with Tokaji Renaissance, a group of the region’s top wineries whose aim is to restore the region to its former glory. This was an opportunity for me to see first hand the incredible changes that have occurred since the collapse of the iron curtain.

I arrived at the Disznóko Winery, a place that is a testament to the investment that has taken place in the region. Owned by the French AXA-Millésimes group, they have built a new state of the art winery. 103 hectares of vines are planted with 60% Furmint, 28% Hárslevelu, 10% Zeta (a new crossing between Furmint and Bouvier) and 2% Sárga Muskotály (Yellow Muscat).

The unique microclimate of the area with the confluence of the Bodrog and Tisza Rivers creates ideal humid conditions for the development of noble rot/botrytis cinerea. I assisted in the harvesting of the shriveled Aszú berries, a painstaking process as each berry has to be individually selected.

The Aszú berries are placed into a steel container, and the pressure from the weight of the grapes (and some assistance from traditional foot treading) releases the free-run juice, called Eszencia which has incredibly high levels of sugar; up to 900 grams per liter! This free run juice is stored in 50-liter glass jars while a slow fermentation occurs on the surface, which creates a liquid with between 0.5 and 2% alcohol (in the European Union this is not considered a wine). However, the focus for Disznóko is on producing 5 and 6 puttonyos. These are produced by macerating the Aszú berries with base wine for between 24 and 36 hours until a slow fermentation begins, typically in Hungarian oak 140 litre barrels called Gönci. The wines are matured for at least 2 years in barrel and a further one year in bottle before release.

I also visited Debogo, Dereszla,  Patricius, Pendits, Samuel Tinon, Royal Tokaji, and Tokaji Classic and the overall quality of the wines was superb. Of particular interest were Pendits and Royal Tokaji, at each end of the scale, which demonstrate the diversity in the region. Pendits is a very small, family-owned winery, with 7 hectares of vines that are certified organic and applied with biodynamic principles. In contrast, Royal Tokaji has just invested 3.4 million Euros into a stunning new winery and produce from 107 hectares of vineyards. The universal theme unifying the wineries in Tokaji Renaissance is the focus on producing the best wine possible and promoting the proud reputation of the regions wines prior to the fall in quality that occurred under socialism.

New developments have been the production of dry Furmints, and non-botrysized late-harvest wines. An interesting Dry Szamorodni is produced by Samuel Tinon; the wine is aged for 6 years in oak and a film of yeast grows on the surface of the liquid producing a bready and nutty lightly oxidized style very similar to a Fino Sherry.

However the crème de la crème remain the 5 and 6 Puttonyos and Aszú Eszencia wines with residual sugar levels of at least 120, 150 and 180 grams per litre, respectively, that are harmoniously balanced by the Furmint’s high natural acidity, so that the wines are never cloying and have significant ageing potential. With outstandingly complex aromas and flavours ranging from apricot, marmalade and honey to vanilla, tobacco and chocolate, and at between 8% to 12% alcohol that second glass can certainly be indulged!