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White dessert wine Tokaj is created in the Republic of Hungary, it is named after the region of production, which is located between two rivers: Bodrog and Tisza.
The wine stands out for its uniqueness and originality. There was a time when it occupied one of the most important places in the world and brought a lot of money to the producing country. He was preferred by the monarchy, including the Russian emperors and the kings of France, among the well-known personalities, one can safely single out the German writers Goethe and Voltaire.
History of Tokay wine
According to legend, the first Tokaji Aszu drink was made from vines that had been touched by mold in the middle of the XNUMXth century by a princely priest.
Some people think that everything happened by accident. The Turks attacked the region, and the inhabitants did not have time to harvest in time, so the grapes were overripe, covered with the fungus Botrytis cinerea and withered.
And someone says that the berries were specially left to overripe. The fungus does not spoil the crop, it takes moisture, drying up the fruit, which leads to a 40–60% sugar concentration. This results in a special smell of saffron with hints of ginger.
Around the same period of time, wine cellars began to be built in the tuff rocks, which were not found anywhere else. The vaults of narrow tunnels, going deep into the ground, were overgrown with a huge amount of mold, and without a fungus there is no legendary wine.
Regardless of the authentic history of origin, by the end of the 1703th century, the whole world knew about Tokay. When Prince Ferenc II Rakoczi was looking for allies in XNUMX, he treated the monarchs of Europe with the sweetest wine, thereby appeasing them.
As for the Russian Empire, our rulers had a special detachment in the region, assembled from the Cossacks, who were supposed to accompany the most valuable cargo on its way to Moscow and St. Petersburg.
What do champagne and Tokaj wine have in common?
We all know that only a drink from the Champagne region can be called champagne, but not everyone knows that he was not the first to achieve popularity. The first wine-growing region was delimited by the Hungarians, and its name was Tokay-Hegyalya.
No one knew wine better and sweeter than Hungarian, there were only attempts to repeat the original. This was the reason that in 1737 the vineyards were divided into four groups:
Exceptional class
This included three sections. The status was as high as that of Sauternes Château d’Yquem.
First grade
Includes seventy-six vineyards.
Second class
Includes fifty-nine vineyards.
Third-class
Includes thirty vineyards.
After 20 years, in 1757, the king issued a decree on securing the name Tokaji for a limited production area.
In the 1920th century, after the end of the First World War, hard times came for Tokay manufacturers. In XNUMX, the region was divided between Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
In the year the Second World War ended, communism began to rule in Hungary. Those who adhered to his ideas were not very worried about the oldest wine-making traditions and their preservation.
In November 1989, a series of peaceful demonstrations took place in Czechoslovakia, referred to as the “Velvet Revolution”, the communist regime was overthrown, and Tokay wine business went uphill.
Features of Tokay wine production
In the process of making wine, only six types of local grapes are allowed to be used at the official level:
The main and most popular is furmint, it occupies more than half of the territory. This variety has increased sharpness, acidity and a tendency to mold.
The second place rightfully occupies Hershlevel, a third of the land has been given to him. It is sweeter and has a brighter smell.
The remaining 10% include four varieties that never act as the main ingredient. They are used as an addition to a more versatile flavor. These included zeta, koversölö, kabar and yellow muscat.
Procurement of raw materials
Mold-dried berries are called asu. First of all, they are collected in baskets, called puttoni, made of wood materials. There they lie, press each other and ooze highly concentrated nectar for several days. This nectar is called essence.
To get from 0,2 to 0,6 liters of nectar, you need to collect a basket weighing a quarter centner. The concentration of sugar varies from 450 to 900 g/l.
Tokay wine production
After the right time has passed, the prepared berries are gently ground to the state of sugar paste without a single lump. It is laid out in barrels with must or summer harvest wine (base), made from grapes untouched by the fungus.
As a rule, Hershlevel and Furmint go into production together. If necessary, it can be diluted with cabaret or any other type of the four allowed.
The resulting liquid needs constant stirring, it is infused for 1-2 days on grated moldy berries. Then it is poured into barrels made of oak from the same region. They are not filled to the brim so that the drink ferments with the microflora of the cellars, oxidizes and becomes a real Tokaj wine.
Wine roams in cellars from 3 to 8 years.
In the cellars, an ideal level of air humidity and a temperature regime of about 10–12 ° C are maintained. The length of the basements reaches 40 km. The mold layer is very thick. It is soft to the touch, has a gray color, leaving in graphite. If you touch it, then the hand will fall inward. The wine stored there evaporates from the barrels, which creates food for the fungus and a special microclimate.
Types of Tokaj wines
Aszú
Classic Tokay wine. In Hungarian, this word means “dry”, however, the bright yellow drink has its own sweetness.
To make it, the grapes must be harvested in several passes. The base wine is made first. It is the August, September harvest. In the last autumn month, dried berries are harvested for the second time in shoulder puttons.
This is where the classic production process is used, when grape paste is mixed with base wine and left to infuse in barrels for several years.
The more puttons used, the sweeter the wine, usually the number of baskets in a barrel is 3 to 6.
If there are more than 6 puttons, the output is Asu-Essence. Alcohol in Asu wines is usually not less than 14%.
Essence
Wine is an oily liquid of gold color. The taste reveals a complex tangerine-fruity bouquet. You can recognize ginger, cinnamon, clove and candied fruits.
Since there are more berries in the form of a drink than in the classic one, it is often called nectar. Formally, this is not quite a wine, since due to the huge amount of sugar (500-700 g / l) it is impossible to bring the alcohol content beyond the mark of 5-6 °, nevertheless, Essence is considered exclusive among wines.
It is periodically added to Asu wines, and sometimes given a chance to become a separate drink, and left in barrels for about 4 years and put on the market. The method of weak fermentation is applied.
In this form, the concentration of sugar is so high that it is drunk only in small sips, but it is perfectly preserved and stored up to the XNUMXnd century, leaving its original properties.
Szamorodni
The first name was főbor (“first wine”). In 1820, the drink was renamed Native.
The wine is sweet, made from berries on which there is a lot of mold. Often the concentration of alcohol reaches 14 °, which is slightly higher than in similar ones.
Berries for him are harvested in late autumn, when they are already raisined to the right extent. Base wine is added to the mass of crushed grapes and the resulting mixture is sent to be blended in barrels.
Translation
To obtain forditasha, crushed Asu grapes are poured with unrefined berry juice, or must. The second was previously used in production.
Copy
If unrefined grape juice is poured over the yeast sediment of Asu and left to ferment for 1,5 months, then you get Mashlash.
Ice wine
The main difference between the manufacturing method is clear from the name. For this drink to see the light, the berries need to be frozen. Production started in 1999.
Dry wine
Appeared among the last. The species objectively differs from classic Tokay sweet wines in its taste: mineral notes are revealed in its bouquet.
According to professionals, this taste is as complex as the taste of drinks from Burgundy. Previously, dry wines from Tokaj were called ordinary, but now, depending on the grape variety: Tokay Harshevelyu, Furmint, etc.
How and with what to drink Tokaj wine
This drink is usually served in neat glasses for dessert wines.
The temperature can be either room temperature or around 11–14 °C.
Foie gras and expensive varieties of cream cheese, such as Roquefort, Brie, Boursin, Snofrisk, etc., are considered a classic snack for Tokay. If there are none, nuts, fruits, sweet desserts, and even fish will do. Essence is usually drunk without additions.
The wine is easy to drink, because such an amount of sugar is neutralized by Furmint’s natural acid.
How to distinguish original Tokay wine from a fake
This wine is crystal clear, has a rich color.
The design must be perfect from the lid to the label. Blurry letters or crooked printing should alert you.
Pay attention to the barcode on the bottle, it should start with 599 (Hungary code).
Interesting Facts
In the Middle Ages, Tokaj wine was called the king of wines and the wine of kings because it was popular at court.
The drink is of such value to the Hungarian nation that it is mentioned in the anthem of the Hungarian Republic.
The barrel in which the drink matures is called gons. In volume, it is 136 liters and is unchanged in the same way as puttoni, which will fit 25 kg.
Since 2007, the European Union has officially assigned the name Tokaji to the Tokaj-Hegyalja region.
Wine is not made annually, its production depends on the quality of a single crop.
Relevance: 13.03.2020
Tags: Wine and vermouth, Wine brands