TOKAJI
Tokaji wines are produced in the Tokaj regions of Hungary (or Slovenia). These are usually sweet wines made by ‘noble rot’ affected grapes.
Tokaji wines use one or more of the following six grape varieties: Furmint, Harslevelu, Yellow Muscat, Zeta, Koverszolo and Kabar, the most important of which is Furmint (60%) followed by Harslevelu (30%). Tokaji wines are usually grown high up (alt 500m) in the Carpathian Mountains where summers are hot, springs are cool and dry and winters are bitterly cold and windy. Autumn rains are early followed by much sun giving a long ripening period.
White wines dominate in Hungary, especially in the Tokaj region (Tokajhegyalja).
In the northeast of Hungary, sheltered by the Carpathian Mountains, the vineyards of Tokaj, the oldest classified wine region in the world. Now in a renaissance, Furmint is the most important grape and produces wines similar to dry Rieslings. Try also the sweet Tokaij Aszu. The Harslevelu (‘lime tree leaf’) grape is native to the Carpathian Mountains in Hungary and is often blended with Furmint for Tokaji Aszu dessert wines.
Tokaji aszu sweet wine production depends on a fungus known as ‘noble rot’ (Botrytis cinerea) that causes grapes to shrivel and become sweet.
Tokaji Wines
