Anyone know much about them - ?

Salut/Hi Bromo,

le/on Wed, 14 Jan 2004 00:30:48 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>Anyone know much about them - ?

Quite a bit. What did you want to know?

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare

Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
Sometimes oi just sits.

"Bromo" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone know much about them - ?

Ian Hoare is our resident expert, but I'll be that Michael Pronay knows them
pretty well too. I'm sure that one or both will fill you in.

Tom S

The most famous Hungarian botryized wine is Tokaji Aszu with the even
richer Tokaji Aszu-Essencia, and the legendary pure Essencia. This wine
has been made hundreds of years, and even Louis XIV, who could have any
French wine he wanted, considered Tokaji Essencia a top wine and fit for
his table. Quality of some of the Tokaji may have been a bit lowered
after WWII, but in recent years there has been great improvement and
wine firms in several countries have invested in this region. Some of
the newer firms try to make the wine in the traditional style, whle
others seem bent on making a more "modern" wine.

Of course other late harvest wines have been and continue to be made in
Hungary. While I am sure some are good and others may be cheap,
commercial wine, I have found no need to investigate them as long as
Tokaji Aszu is available.

Somlo has made fine wines since at least the 11th century. The area and
production are small and only a small part of the area makes the finest
wines. Some very fine late harvest wines have been made here for
centuries, but I have never seen a top quality Somlo for sale in the US.
The wines of Somlo were liked by some of the Habsburg princes and Queen
Victoria. I have no idea if a Somlo that lives up to the past glory can
be found today or not.

"Bromo" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone know much about them - ?

Ian Hoare does. He and I don't see eye to eye on them, but he has a sound
basis for what he says.

"Tom S" > wrote:

>> Anyone know much about them - ?

> Ian Hoare is our resident expert, but I'll be that Michael Pronay
> knows them pretty well too. I'm sure that one or both will fill you
> in.

Flattering, but not quite true. My only advantage is that I was in Tokaj
once (back in 1996). But my tasing experience is quite limited; Ian
knows much, much more than I.

M.

"Bromo" > wrote in message

> Anyone know much about them - ?

Sure - but not to be counted as one.
From my favourites i have this link:

http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/w...rs/9902102.asp

explaining a little about the famous tokay.
I find the explenation of the different numbers of puttonyos rather
interesting.

regards
Jan

On 1/13/04 8:03 PM, in article ,
"Ian Hoare" > wrote:

> Salut/Hi Bromo,
>
> le/on Wed, 14 Jan 2004 00:30:48 GMT, tu disais/you said:-
>
>> Anyone know much about them - ?
>
> Quite a bit. What did you want to know?

I saw it in a store and read about it in "The Wine Bible" -- I was curious
about any information. I am tempted to go and buy it, but don't know how to
read the label.

Salut/Hi Bromo,

le/on Fri, 16 Jan 2004 01:29:04 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>On 1/13/04 8:03 PM, in article ,
>"Ian Hoare" > wrote:

>I saw it in a store and read about it in "The Wine Bible" -- I was curious
>about any information. I am tempted to go and buy it, but don't know how to
>read the label.

OK. Most of the best sweet Hungarian botrytised wine comes from the hills
stretching NE from the town of Tokaj, and it is this town which has given
its name to the wine. As Cwdjrx (is it Chuck?) says, Somlo also used to
produce a class sweet wine, but in my Rohaly guide, I can only find one
producer still making it.

So coming to Tokaji wines (you had the -i to say "from", as in the German
-er suffix), a few dry wines are made in various ways, but the great
majority and certainly the greatest wines of the region are the sweet,
mostly botrytised wines. These come in about 5 styles, some of which are
extremely rare, and about which I won't write at this time.

The grapes used are Furmint, Harslevelu, Orémus and Muskotaly (muscat), with
the first two dominating by a facter of ten at least, rather in the way the
Cabinets and Merlot do in Bordeaux in France.

The legendary "Imperial Tokaj" (which was so called because it was the wine
served to the crowned heads of Europe, when they existed) is correctly
called Tokaji Eszencia - Essence of Tokaj. It is so rare and so expensive
that you are unlikely ever to see it in your lifetime. Basically, the few
drops which ooze from the highly botrytised grapes under their own pressure
when put into hoppers, are collected, combined, and the resulting liquid,
with at least 650 gms sugar per litre is fermented - in so far as it will -
usually in demijohns of a few litres. After 10 years or so, the wine (with
about 4% alcohol) is bottled.

The best known (at the moment) and most widely available wine from Tokaj is
called Tokaji Aszu (sz in Hungarian is pronounced like our 's', so this is
pronounced "assoo" more or less). This comes in varying grades of sweetness,
depending upon the amount and sweetness of the botrytised grapes added
during the vinification process, which is unique to Tokaj, virtually. This
sweetness is indicated in a kind of degree, called Puttony. And in practice,
can vary between 3 to 6 puttonyos. I'll not go into the details of why this
name is used, although some writers would have you believe that the wine is
stil made by adding so many puttonyos to the gonc. There is a top grade of
sweetness called "Tokaji Aszu Eszencia" which is roughly equivalent to a 7/8
puttonyos wine. All sweet wines from Tokaj (except Eszencia) come in 50cl
(1/2 litre or 1 pint US) bottles, usually, with the characteristic long
neck. That said, some modern style sweet wines (more later) come in long
thin 50cl bottles the same height as "ordinary" 75cl wine bottles.

The making of Tokaji Aszu always starts out the same way. Grapes are picked
relatively early in the harvest period, and are pressed and (may be)
fermented in the usual way - some makers use the unfermented grape must, by
the way. As noble rot develops in the vineyards later in the season, the
grapes are picked individually, and brought down to the cellar and put into
hoppers - with a double bottom, in which sometimes the juice used to make
eszencia can collect. This process continues until the rot has developed so
far that it is impossible to select individual grapes (or berries as the
Hungarians call them). At this stage the remaining bunches are picked (more
on this later).

The Aszu berries are then mixed in such proportion with the wine/must made
previously as to give a certain sugar content, and this determines the
sweetness (putts) that the final wine will have. The mix is then macerated,
and in some places large rotating drums, very like washing machines are used
to work the aszu berries with the wine/must for 24 hours. After this
maceration, the mixture is pressed, and the resulting liquid is fermented.
This used to take place for a minimum of two(three?) years plus one year for
each puttony degree. So a 3 putts would have had 5(6?) fermentation while a
6 putts would need 9. This was partly to give stability to the finished
wine, but also to allow a surface film to develop as in the Vin Jaune of the
Jura and in Sherry - called flor or fleur, which protects the wine from
oxysidising. However, changing tastes and economic pressures have brought
about a change in the law, and an Aszu wine now must pass 2 years in barrel,
while an aszu eszencia must pass 4. They can then be bottled, but (iirc)
they must wait a year in bottle before being sold.

This is obviously a very long time, and so some wine makers have always made
a "late Harvest" wine called in Hungarian Késöi szüretelésú. This can have
as much sugar as a 6 putts wine, and may or may not be made using
maceration, but without the long wait, which means that it can't be legally
called Aszu. At its best - Kiralyudvar's Cuvée Ilona or Szépsy's Noble Late
Harvest, or Hetzölö's Harslevelu Késöi szüretelésú, it's maginificent wine,
though with a different style from Tokay Aszu.

The chances are high that the wine labels you've seen are of a Tokaji Aszu.
As in all other areas, the grower is of primary importance, though the
position of the vineyards is also crucial. The whole area was classified way
back, long before this was done in France, with the best vineyards being on
the relatively difficult hillsides. The are classified even today, and some
growers do make true single vineyard Tokaji. Others think it's good
marketing to use the names of vineyards as a description of a style of wine.
I think that's close to fraud. Again, as in all botrytised wines, the
vintage is also important. Global warming (sorry if this appears political
to you) has however had an effect, and the recent decade or so has seen a
much higher proportion than usual of decent years. '93, '95 '96 '99 2000
'2001 (I think) are all good to excellent.

Finally, to come to the remaining bunches. These are harvested, pressed and
fermented. Depending upon the proportion of nobly rotted grapes present, the
wine may be quite dry up to pretty sweet. This style of wine is called
Szamorodni, and if dry is called Száraz, if sweet Edes. It is less refined
as a wine, but makes an excellent Puszta cocktail mixed 50:50 with Barack
Pálinka (apricot liqueur).

Tokaji Aszu and up are almost immortal. Although they are delicious when
young, all fresh ctystallised fruits, with aging, they develop their true
character, inmmensely complex with hints of chocolate, tobacco (honestly)
walnuts and so on. An old tokaji aszu would be over 50 years old!

Lastly, be a little wary of pre-1989 Tokaji Aszu. Before that time, the
state winemaking co-op made all the wine, virtually, paying all the growers
the same no matter whether they brought in wonderfully botrytised grapes
from 1st growth vineyards, or barely botrytised grapes from the plains.
However, these wines weren't necessarily mixed to make a single homogenous
wine, they would be put into barrels as the harvest progressed, and you
could have a whole range of qualities with no way of knowing what you had.
Further, because so many grapes arrived in bad condition, some pretty
fearful chemical treatment might have been carried out. Good wines DO exist,
especially from Orémus, who when Vega Sicilia bought the estate, (and were
obliged, like other foreign investors, to buy up part of the state wine
stock), also poached the head wine maker from the old state cellars, and he
helped them choose the barrels they should buy!!! Even today, supermarket
shelves in France often sport 1988 Tokaji Aszu from the otherwise excellent
Disznoko estate.

Whew. That's about it. Hope you now know enough to read a Tokaji wine label.
--
All the Best
Ian Hoare

Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
Sometimes oi just sits.

Ian,
Thanks for that wonderful overview of Tokaji! Someone (Harm?)
should seriously think of adding that to our FAQ.

Mark Lipton

Salut/Hi Mark Lipton,

le/on Fri, 16 Jan 2004 08:47:06 -0500, tu disais/you said:-

>Ian,
> Thanks for that wonderful overview of Tokaji! Someone (Harm?)
>should seriously think of adding that to our FAQ.

Thanks Mark, but really, it's not that much different to the Tokaji FAQ page
we've got already! I should have just given the link, but....

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare

Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
Sometimes oi just sits.