Tokaji Aszù wine guide: the first botrytized wine

Tokaji is the Hungarian sweet wine that for centuries has bewitched the palates of all lovers of botrytis, indeed we can say that it is the first musty wine ever produced by man. It is sweet nectar like ambrosia, produced with a particular technique, but which has not changed much in recent centuries: the main characteristic is that it comes from grapes attacked by the famous noble rot, Botrytis cinerea. There are also dry Tokaji, excellent aperitif wines, but on this page, we will talk about the most precious and fascinating: Tokaji aszù.

The whole process is long, painstaking, and complex and starts from the vineyard. There are two phases both in the harvest and in the vinification.

How Tokaji aszù is produced

Let’s start with mold: in practice the bunches of grapes are left on the plants until they are covered with mold, which does nothing but dehydrates the berries, concentrating the sugars in an extreme way. This mushy and moldy mass, with an unattractive appearance, but sweet as honey, is pressed and transformed into a sort of paste that takes the name of aszù. And the flavor is all there, a little bomb of sweetness ready to explode.

The bunches that have not been attacked by Botrytis are left to mature for a long time until almost December and then they are collected, pressed, and fermented: the must rest in wooden barrels for 1 year.

The must is added to the base wine and starts with a second fermentation that transforms a modest wine into a masterpiece, a real-world heritage of taste for all of humanity.

Tokaji aszù classification: what are puttonyos?

There are various degrees of sweetness, which according to some recall the classification of Falerno made by Pliny the Elder, however, it is very simple and depends on how many puttonyos of aszù are added to the base wine. It ranges from 3 to 6.

Tokaji aszù 3 puttonyos must by law have more than 60 grams of sugar per liter and mature for no less than 5 years in wooden barrels.

In Tokaji aszù 6 puttonyos there are no less than 150 grams of sugar per liter and the wine must age for at least 8 years.

But that’s not all, because another fundamental element that makes this wine unique is a second mold, the Cladosporium, the Hungarian cousin of Sherry’s one. The barrels are only 3/4 filled, so mold can develop and affect the wine while protecting it from oxidation. Very often this particularity is not mentioned, but it is this mold that gives the final touch to the wine and makes it unique.

Tokaji aszù Eszencia: the sweetest wine in the whole world

And this is the process to produce the legendary Tokaji aszù, but there is also a nectar produced in very few drops, the elusive Tokaji aszù Eszencia, in practice it is the pure must that flows from the aszù, distilled with such extreme sweetness that it does not allow the yeast to work. We are talking about 250 grams of sugar per liter.

And in fact, it is not even a real wine, since it usually has 5-6 degrees, however, its taste has a legendary reputation and was once used by kings and emperors as a tonic or to make diplomatic gifts among the various European courts. In some cases, specific yeasts are added to start the fermentation for this purpose.

Another fundamental ingredient is the cellars, dug into the tuff of volcanic origin, low, practically to crawl inside, which inside have a constant temperature of 10-12 degrees and the right humidity to allow the wine to evolve slowly, without sudden changes and keeping mold “at bay”. Wineries, among other things, were born for defense needs, such as for the producers of Fossa di Sogliano cheese, to find shelter from the raids of the Turks, who until 1686 will not be expelled from Hungary.

Tokaji production area

But we have not yet talked about the hills where Tokaji is produced, another fundamental ingredient of this taste equation, thanks to the presence of two rivers, the Tisza (Tisza in Hungarian) and Bodrog, which create the perfect climatic conditions for the appearance of the Botrytis cinerea, i.e. humidity. All great botrytized wines are born first of all from a river, Sauternes has Ciron, but if we want to stay in Italy, even an amazing rot like that of Fattoria Zerbina is born thanks to a small stream from which the fog rises. In any case, we are in the Tokaji-Hegyalia region, northeast of Budapest.

Tokaji history

It seems that the Greeks had already introduced the first vineyards on the hills around Tokaji, then the Romans came to bring rigor and new cultivation techniques, then as always, the monks in the Middle Ages preserved the crops and the culture of wine, even if the real reformer was the ruler Belaa IV.

In the thirteenth century, he invited Flemish and Italian winemakers to his court who “reformed” Hungarian wine, but it was only in 1617 that the Rákóczi family began the systematic production of the musty wine that would upset the world. It is said that a harvest was delayed for fear of the usual Turkish raid and so the clusters remained on the plants and mold appeared. Tasting the grape and then transforming it into must, they realized that it had become sweeter than honey. It is the first case of grapes ripened by Botrytis cinerea: the world of wine would never be the same again. The photo you see at the top of the page is not hidden advertising, but a tribute to the first Tokaji produced in 1650, by the chaplain of the Rákóczi family, the Oremus, who took his name from the vineyard of the same name.

What grape varieties are used to make Tokaji?

There are many blends, but many winemakers try to produce in purity to enhance the typicality of the 3 main grape varieties, namely: Furmint, Hárslevelű and Muscat Blanc à petit grain. Furmint is the one with a thin skin that is attacked by mold, the second is the one that brings sugar and aromas, Moscato is the king of aromatic vines and there is nothing else to add.

Also interesting are the Tokaji based on zeta, a vine that is growing a lot and that returns intense, very full, sweet and powerful wines.

Organoleptic characteristics of Tokaji Aszù

Defining it as sweet is little and reductive: it is an incredible symphony of caramelized flavors and aromas, with candied fruit, dried fruit, spices, but then they manage to balance the medicinal suggestions of mold, dried fruit and the pungent-oxidized traits of the second mold, spices. of wood. In summary it is a nectar, but dense in consistency and suggestions, to be sipped calmly. The extraordinary thing is that it is not cloying and monotonous, but there are always acidity, sapidity and herbaceous flavors to smooth, refresh and play down the sweetness. More than a wine, it is a world heritage of humanity.

Which dishes can be paired with Tokaji Aszù?

Chocolate mousse, pear and chocolate tart, donuts, Tuscan cantucci, trifle, tiramisu, apple pie, creme brùlée.