Mike Tommasi wrote:
> Why does Ch. Pajzos spell theirs with two Ss ?

There has been great variation in how "essence" is spelled on labels
for many years. My bottle of 1888, Baron Beust that was imported by
Berry Bros. in the UK in 1938 was labeled Tokay Essence. A bottle 0f
1827 imported into the US before WWII uses Eszencia. A bottle of 1906
that was lebeled by the state in Hungary, and came to the US via London
used Aszu Esszencia on the label.

In his book Vintage Wine, on p 411 Michael broadbent notes:

"In documents and on labels the spelling would vary. I have noted
Essencia, Eszencia, even Esszencia or Esszenzcia. Whether or not
prefixed Aszu, the wine was generally the equivalent of 7 or slightly
more puttonyos and rarely marketed in its pure state."

Broadbent gives this for Ch Pajzos Essencia 1993 bottled in 1997:

"Probably Aszu-Essencia but presumably very high putt value. Certainly
glorious, intensely sweet, fat, rich and raisiny."

I have not had this wine, but a true, classic Essenzia likely would
require many more than 4 years of fermentation before it was ready to
bottle after reaching an alcohol level of perhaps all of 3% !

Of course variations in spelling of names from Eastern Europe when used
in English speaking countries are not unique to wine. For example,
there are variations in Tchaikovsky. But here the very different
Russian alphabet likely is part of the reason.

As to why Ch. Pajzos decided to use the spelling you mention instead of
the several others, I guess one would have to ask them to know for
sure.

Especially when it comes to old "essence", it might be well to
remember: "Things are not always as they seem. Skim
milk(Aszu-Esszencia) masquerades as cream(Esszencia)."

I have even heard, perhaps from Hugh Johnson, that very long ago, some
Aszu and/or true essence was somewhat fortified with brandy. I have
also seen sparkling Montrachet listed on a restaurant wine list from
the late 1880s.

wrote:

> In his book Vintage Wine, on p 411 Michael broadbent notes:
>
> "In documents and on labels the spelling would vary. I have noted
> Essencia, Eszencia, even Esszencia or Esszenzcia. Whether or not
> prefixed Aszu, the wine was generally the equivalent of 7 or slightly
> more puttonyos and rarely marketed in its pure state."

This latter sentence I find puzzling. I think that there is a very real
and distinct difference between Aszu Eszencia and Escenzia, the latter
being restricted to the fermented free run juice from unpressed grapes
(in essence [pun intended] what would bleed out of the bottom of the
barrel) and as scarce as hen's teeth.


> I have even heard, perhaps from Hugh Johnson, that very long ago, some
> Aszu and/or true essence was somewhat fortified with brandy. I have
> also seen sparkling Montrachet listed on a restaurant wine list from
> the late 1880s.
>

I don't see any reason why someone might not have made sparkling
Montrachet in the 19th Century: there were no AOC restrictions then, and
Blanc de Blancs have a long history in Champagne.

Mark Lipton

Mark Lipton wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > In his book Vintage Wine, on p 411 Michael broadbent notes:
> >
> > "In documents and on labels the spelling would vary. I have noted
> > Essencia, Eszencia, even Esszencia or Esszenzcia. Whether or not
> > prefixed Aszu, the wine was generally the equivalent of 7 or slightly
> > more puttonyos and rarely marketed in its pure state."
>
> This latter sentence I find puzzling. I think that there is a very real
> and distinct difference between Aszu Eszencia and Escenzia, the latter
> being restricted to the fermented free run juice from unpressed grapes
> (in essence [pun intended] what would bleed out of the bottom of the
> barrel) and as scarce as hen's teeth.

Broadbent probably has tasted more true essence than any living person
in Western Europe. He has had the famous 1811, that was imported into
the UK in the 1930s, the true 1945, etc. I think he very well knows
what he is talking about from the tastings of many of the old and
recent wines that claim to be essence. I think he is saying that the
mentioned wines are not nearly rich enough to be pure, free run classic
essence(or perhaps a weight is being applied to produce more "free-run"
juice).



> > I have even heard, perhaps from Hugh Johnson, that very long ago, some
> > Aszu and/or true essence was somewhat fortified with brandy. I have
> > also seen sparkling Montrachet listed on a restaurant wine list from
> > the late 1880s.
> >
>
> I don't see any reason why someone might not have made sparkling
> Montrachet in the 19th Century: there were no AOC restrictions then, and
> Blanc de Blancs have a long history in Champagne.

The main reason is economic. Montrachet was also considered the top
white Burgundy in the 1800s, and there was no need to resort to a
perversion of a sparkling Montrachet to sell it at a high price for
then, even if laws did not prevent that. What likely was labeled
sparkling Montrachet, to bask in the glory of Montrachet, was a
sparkling Puligny or Chassagne -Montrachet, if you were lucky. Since
the unofficial borders of Burgundy extended to the Rhone, and perhaps
to Italy and North Africa back then, your sparkling wine might even
have been at least part from these regions. A few years ago I e-mailed
Clive Coates about the menu from the old Delmonicos in NYC that listed
sparkling Montrachet, since Coates probably knows as much about
Burgundy as anyone outside of France and has met most of the main wine
producers. To my surprise, Coates briefly answered to the effect that
sparkling Montrachet was highly unlikely since this was before AOC
laws, and everything could and did happen back them. This was during an
era when control of food and drug laws was very lax in both the US and
most of Europe. In the US you could buy medications over the counter
that were mainly cocaine and heroin. Complexion pills containing
arsenic were available. Snail juice was sometimes used to thicken and
stretch cream. Lead compounds sometimes found their way into food and
drugs, and on, and on. The problems became so severe in the US, that
pure food and drug laws had to be passed, the federal government had to
start inspecting many drugs and foods, etc. At least mislabeling of a
drink or food was a minor problem on comparison to some of the
dangerous foods and drugs available back then.

" > wrote:

>> Why does Ch. Pajzos spell theirs with two Ss ?

> There has been great variation in how "essence" is spelled on
> labels for many years.

I once met a guy from the noble Hungarian Zichy (pronounced
"zee-chy") family, they are counts. The spelling does not follow
Hungarian orthography, where it should be "Zicsy". I asked him why
the name of his family doesn't follow spelling rules, and his
absolute inimitable answer was: "My family is older than Hungarian
ortography."

M.