Our guest writer looks at Tokaj, the first classified wine region in Europe

The sweet Tokaji wine from the region of Tokaj in northwest Hungary is as rich in history and legend as it is in residual sugar. Peter the Great of Russia was a fan, as was The Sun King Louis XIV (pictured below). Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary used to send Queen Victoria bottles on her birthday. Tokaj claims the distinction of being Europe’s first classified wine region after the assessment carried out by Prince Rakoczi in 1700.

The Tokaj region, as with the Sauternes region in France, enjoys the necessary climatic conditions for the creation of noble rot. Two rivers, the Bodrog and Tisza, supply the morning mists while the protective Carpathian mountains ensure dry autumn days. Three grapes are typically used in the blend. The furmint grape, like sémillon, is particularly susceptible to botrytis cinerea and supplies the majority of the blend. The harslevelu grape (which accounts for about 25% of the vineyard planting) has a high sugar content and often a small amount of muscat is also added.


Image credit: www.tokaji.com

Grapes affected by noble rot are known as aszu. Non-aszu grapes are used to produce a dry base wine. Aszu grapes are pressed into a paste after picking and are then macerated in this base wine. Traditionally, aszu grapes were picked and placed in large wooden buckets or hods. The number of these hods, known as puttony, was used to indicate the level of sweetness in the wine: 3, 4, 5, 6 puttonyos seen on the label indicating increasing levels of sweetness, rarity and price. Nowadays rather than the number of hods these numbers indicate the level of sugar in the wine: 5 puttonyos, which translates to 120 – 150 grams per litre, is comparable to a great vintage of Château d’ Yquem. After maceration the grapes are pressed and a slow fermentation is allowed which can take up to two years.

Even rarer is the Tokaji eszencia created from the juice that seeps out from the freshly picked aszu grapes, before maceration. It can take even longer to ferment and produces an elixir of only 2.5% alcohol. It is said that Peter the Great claimed “Until now I have not been defeated by anyone or anything. But Tokaji wine defeated me last night”.