Vampires flowing like shadows through ancient streets. Ghouls howling at the moon. Spirits scaring impressionable passers-by. All of this unclean host was investigated by the French theologian Antoine Augustin Calmet, the most learned man of 1746. He travelled around Hungary, collected testimonies of the outrages, and published the “Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires”. A sceptic by nature, but readers understood everything the other way round: they read without their heads and saw proof where there had been doubt.
Calmet should have devoted himself to something else — tasting the sweetest wine in the world. Write the same treatise, but add at the end: “…after drinking Tokaji Aszú”. The work would at once have taken on new colours. However, the wine appeared a little later.
Tokaj — the wine of kings
Tokaj is the most renowned wine region of north-eastern Hungary, at the foot of the Zemplén mountains. The Bodrog and Tisza rivers create a unique microclimate here — warm and humid, ideal for “noble rot”. The region is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and not for nothing.
Every label is decorated with a modest inscription: Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum — “wine of kings, king of wines”. Since 2007 only Hungarians, and only in this region, may use the name Tokaji. The protection of the geographical indication is as strict as befits a legend.
The region grows 6 main grape varieties, each on its own soil. The climate is warm and even, while the soils differ: sandy, stony, clay — like a patchwork quilt.
Three heroes of the blend
Aszú uses three varieties:
- Furmint — the dominant variety. High natural acidity and structure, needed to balance the sugar. Potential for long aging
- Hárslevelű — floral, spicy and honeyed notes. Sensitive to the temperature at harvest: a night harvest at 18°C preserves aromatic purity, a daytime one at 28°C gives riper aromas
- Yellow Muscat — a recognisable profile, a clear grape character
Noble rot is not just a fungus
The main trick is grapes affected by Botrytis cinerea. But it is not a solo actor: metatranscriptomic analysis shows that a whole consortium of microorganisms, other fungi and yeasts, takes part in forming the aroma. The genes responsible for aroma are activated at the late stages of botrytization.
The berries dry on the vine, turning almost into raisins. They are picked by hand, one by one — a picker gathers only 8–10 kg a day. Special baskets, puttonyos, are carried on the back. They used to be a measure of sugar: 3 puttonyos per barrel meant a certain sweetness. Now more precise methods are used, and in 2013 the Hungarian authorities abolished the 3 and 4 puttonyos categories altogether — the minimum is now 5, with residual sugar of at least 120 g/l.
Botrytis likes humidity, but not too much. In a season that is too rainy everyone is left without sweet Tokaji — nature decides for people.
Tokaji Aszú — dessert in a bottle
The technology is labour-intensive: the aszú berries are ground into a thick paste and mixed with base must in traditional 136-litre “Gönci” barrels. The wine ferments, then is aged in old oak for at least 18 months (under the new 2013 law). The result is a wine with a very high sugar content — a real dessert in a bottle.
Tokaji Eszencia — nectar of the gods
Eszencia is even sweeter. Just like cough syrup. It is drunk with special measuring spoons — in sips, not from glasses.
It was first released in 1811, the “comet year”. The Great Comet of 1811, discovered by Honoré Flaugergues, was visible for most of the growing season, and this year is considered one of the greatest vintages of the 19th century.
The technology is even more exotic: berries with noble rot are put in containers, and the juice runs out under their own weight. The yield is negligible — only 2–3 litres of juice per 100 kg of berries. The sugar level exceeds 450 g/l, and sometimes reaches 750 g/l.
Fermentation is so slow that it takes years. Because of the extreme osmolality, ordinary Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cannot cope — osmophilic strains dominate, which survive at glucose concentrations of up to 35%. The alcohol comes out at only 2–5% — the wine hardly ferments, it simply… matures.
Eszencia is the rarest and most expensive wine in the world. In that time you could really teach a monkey to say “harosh botrytize”.
Taste
Aszú smells like a mix of sweet tropical fruits. On the palate, dried apricots with raisins in meadow honey.
History without embellishment
Wine from Tokaj was supplied to the tables of European kings — Louis XIV, Franz Joseph, Victoria. Even Catherine II. The region is not called the king of wines for nothing.
But the history of Tokaj is not only about kings. The Zimmermann family, Jewish merchants, founded a winery in 1856 and by 1900 had become one of the largest producers — 60 cellars, offices in London and New York. In 1944 the family was deported and murdered. In 2016 the Royal Tokaji company installed memorial plaques in memory of the Zimmermanns. Rare bottles of 1889 “Tokaji Essencia, Zimmerman Lipot” still appear at auctions for thousands of euros.
What else is produced
Tokaj makes not only sweet wines — there are also dry, sparkling and red ones. At the foot of the Carpathians lies a splendid wine land.
Conclusion
If you come across a Tokaji Aszú that smells like a mix of sweet and juicy tropical fruits, with the taste of dried apricots with raisins in meadow honey — you should buy it. Wait for a special day. Open it. Let the sweet aroma spread.
And in such cool weather you want to open it right now. The slight nostalgia for the hot summer will pass — it will certainly return.