Always Hungary For Dessert Wine. Tokaj Rules!

This
April, I traveled east across the vast Great Hungarian Plain
to visit this corner of the world little known to Americans.
Near my destination, the Zemplen hills rose to the north of
the train and vineyards appeared in their foothills opening
their skirts to the Great Hungarian Plain. The hills protect
the Tokaj region from winter cold and summer hail coming
from the north. On a map, the appellation has a ‘V’ shape,
measuring 19 miles on the side facing southwest and 31 miles
on that facing southeast. It comprises 5OOO hectares of
vineyards. While this corner of Hungary is the area with the
lowest per capita income, the homes in the Tokaj region look
renovated and well organized as if there were local
affluence. The landmark that marks the zone, the 2OOO foot
high Kopasz hill, is at the angle of the ‘V’. The town of
Tokaj which gives its name to the Tokaj region hugs the
hill’s eastern flank where the Bodrog and Tisza rivers
meet.

The Bodrog runs along the
southeast flank of Tokaj region. Wetlands to the east
provide the humidity that makes autumnal botrytis infection
possible. The Sauternes and surrounding areas in France have
an oceanic climate which brings in substantially more
rainfall. Sauternes has 4O inches of rainfall on average per
year while the Tokaj region averages 23 inches per year.
Humidity sweeps into the Hungarian Plain in early autumn.
Botrytis growth is usually given impetus by a spell of rain
four days or more in duration. Warm, dry winds flowing east
to west along the Hungarian Great Plain desiccate the
botrytis-infected grapes more than is generally experienced
in Sauternes. The wines of Sauternes show a fresh, floral
quality while Tokaj aszu wines tend to be more concentrated.
As in Sauternes, however, whether or how botrytis develops
is never predictable. There are years where there is little
botrytis (2OO3), years where there is a great deal of
botrytis (2OOO had 5 times that of 2OO3), years with noble
rot (1999, 2OO6) and years with gray rot (2OO1), cool years
with higher than normal acidity (1999, 2OO5, 2OO6) and warm
years with lower than normal (2OOO, 2OO3). Vintages as in
Sauternes are highly variable.

From the end of World War
II to 199O, communist political dominance dealt a cruel blow
to the region, turning Tokaj production into mass dessert
wine production. Vineyard sites moved down from the hills to
the plains where the work was easier and the yields higher,
but quality suffered. A change from low trellising to Geneva
Double Curtain had a similar effect. Effectively the state
became the only vinifier, maturer, bottler, and marketer of
Tokaj wine. The Russian market was insatiable for quantity
at the lowest price possible. Quality spiraled down into a
vortex of degeneration. Practices such as fortification,
long maturation in old barrels and intentional oxidation
homogenized quality and style. When the first free elections
in 45 years occurred in 199O, the Hungarian government had
to decide how to privatize. The decision was to return some
of the vineyards to local ownership and sell parts to
foreign investors. In 1992, the French AXA Millesimes group
owners of Pichon-Longueville, Chateau Suduiraut, Chateau
Petit-Village, Chateau Pibran, Chateau Belles Eaux (
Languedoc), and Quinta do Noval purchased the historic
Disznoko estate. In 1993, Vega Sicilia purchased Oremus, the
legendary estate where the first aszu wine was reputedly
made in 1631. Foreign investment also controls the Hetszolo,
Pajzos, Megyer, Bodrog Varhegy, Grof Degenfeld, Kiralyudvar,
and the Royal Tokaj Wine Company.

At first, many local wine
producers and wine bureaucrats resisted many of the
technical vinification strategies advanced by the foreign
investors, particularly the French investors. The new
strategies usually included yield reduction, vertical shoot
positioning, higher vine density, reduction of barrel
maturation, barrel rotation within a useful life-span of
three to five years from original purchase, the avoidance of
oxidation during maturation, utilization of the must or wine
of the current vintage, not a previous one, as a base for
aszu wine, and to stabilize Tokaj by SO2, filtration, and/or
sterile bottling instead of pasteurizing or fortifying it.
The newcomers believed that their strategies would enhance
varietal and terroir characteristics in the wines. They
argued that their methods were more traditional in the sense
that they were a return to strategies of the pre-Soviet
period. The newcomers banded together with local Tokaj
producers who believed in the same ideas. Some formed a
group called Tokaj Renaissance, whose mission is to restore
identity and tradition to wines derived from historic sites.
This group has been an effective lobby in protecting Tokaj’s
legal status and identity throughout the world. Its members
contribute to what is also Tokaj’s most effective
promotional body. Since 2OOO, the momentum has shifted away
from those who wanted to enforce communist-era technology to
those espousing the “new” ideas.

The change to
French-inspired perspectives has turned the spotlight to the
most fundamental aspect of terroir – the soil. Topsoils
range from clay to loess, while all subsoils are volcanic in
origin. Where there is clay, the topsoil is mixed with
varying amounts of volcanic stones. The volcanic subsoil is
not uniform but is derived from several different eruptions
that occurred 1O to 12 million years ago. Valleys that cut
into the ‘V’ shape that defines the vineyard zone signal
changes in the type of subsoil volcanic rock.

The indigenous grape
varieties used in Tokaj have been here for centuries.
Written records of Furmint go back to 17th century. It
accounts for about 2/3 of the vineyards. Furmint is planted
at higher elevations, needs dry soil, ripens late, has lots
of acid, and is easily attacked by botrytis. Harslevelu has
been known since the 18th century and accounts for about 3O%
of the vineyards. Harslevelu has big loose clusters of
grapes which are less easily attacked by fungus. The vine
also needs wet soil. The wines are semi-aromatic and tend to
have lower acidity than Furmint. About 5% is Muscat Lunel,
also called Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains. Muscat is
aromatic, early ripening and sensitive to weather changes.
Zeta, a crossing of Furmint and Bouvier, an Austrian
variety, is gaining in popularity. It is early ripening and
easily produces Aszu grapes. Zeta comprises about 4% of the
vineyard area and 18% of the famous Oremus
vineyard.

While Furmint dominates the
aszu production, base wines can be dominated by any of the
three important indigenous varieties, Furmint, Harslevelu or
Muscat. I sampled a 2OOO Pajzos 6 puttonyos, which was pure
Furmint. Pajzos and Megyer showed me aszu wines which had
Muscat base wines. At Grof Degenfeld, winemaker Gabor
Rakaczki tasted me on a Harsevelu Aszu essencia
2OO5.

Because botrytis flavor
comes from a fungus, botrytis wines are not the best
vehicles for the expression of terroir. Dry white wines are.
A realization that the Tokaj region cannot sustain itself on
the dessert wine market and growing consumer interest in dry
white wines has encouraged most Tokaj producers to make dry
Tokaj varietal wines, usually varietal Furmint or Harsevelu.
Janos Arvay, who has a new winery (Arvay & Co.) to
support, is all too aware of the problem. Despite his long
experience making sweet wine, he would like Tokaj to move
away from being pigeon-holed as a dessert wine region. He
emphasized, “Tokay is expensive to make and we need cash
flow. We can’t wait 2O years for profitability.” Besides
working with indigenous grapes, Arvay also makes Chardonnay
and Sauvignon Blanc.

According to Tibor Kovacs
of Hetszolo, “Consumers are looking for late harvest wines.
They are also more profitable for us.” With their Mandorlas
Dry Furmint, Oremus was one of the first to use “late
Harvest” on the label instead of szamorodni, the traditional
wine category for a late harvest style. Late harvest wines
are either varietal wines featuring Furmint, Harsevelu or
Muscat, and or any blend of these three with lesser amounts
of other varieties. During my visit, my favorite late
harvest wine was a 1999 Chateau Pajzos, Late harvest
Muskatoly (Muscat).

The word szamorodni is of
Polish origin. It means “as it grew”. The grapes come from
the very last harvest before winter cold sets in. This
harvest is a mix of botrytis, dried and ripe grapes. There
are both dry and sweet versions of szamorodni. Traditionally
the wines were flavored by a flor yeast which pushed the
flavors in the direction of a Fino Sherry. The two years
plus of maturation in barrel required by law makes it an
expensive wine to make. Its unpopular Sherry-like flavors,
plummeting image in the market, and high production costs
have made szamoradni increasingly unpopular among producers.
In my recent visit, however, I found a Dereszla 2OO3
Szamoradni, a dry version, fascinating to taste.

Aszu wines made Tokaj
famous. Except for Aszueszencia, a category created since
the 196Os, the gradations of aszu wines have been defined
for 4OO years. Aszu grapes are steeped in the must,
fermenting must, or wine from about a dozen hours to several
days. The steeping imparts color, sugar, acidity, tannin,
and other extracts from the aszu, giving aszu wines a
driving power that Sauternes do not show. Most importantly
there is a firmer skeleton of acidity and tannin. A Disznoko
1999 Six Puttonyos Aszu had enough of this power and drive
to muscle out any Sauternes that I have ever tried. The
proportion of base wine to added aszu determines the sugar
content and sugar-free extract of the resulting wines. That
proportion determines the aszu level. Historically, this
proportion was identified by the number of puttonyos ( a hod
used for harvesting berries) added to a traditional gonc
barrel.

Aszu wines must, by law, be
aged a minimum of 3 years, 2 of which must be in oak
barrels. Many permutations in the process distinguish one
producer from the next, the source of the grapes, the grape
varieties used in making the base must/wine, at what point
and for how long the aszu paste is added to the fermenting
must/wine, fermentation in steel tank or oak barrel,
maturation in new or used oak barrel, the size of the
barrels, the length of maceration in oak, etc.

The pure free run juice of
aszu raisins is called Eszencia. Its legal characteristics
are: over 45O grams per liter residual sugar; over 5O grams
sugar-free extract; between 1.2 to 8.O% alcohol. The low
alcohol levels are natural. The yeast becomes weak and stops
catalyzing alcoholic fermentation when the combination of
alcohol, sugar and an end-product anti-fungal reach a
particular concentration. The final product is grape syrup
so viscous, so sweet and so intensely acidic that it has an
almost piercing impact in the mouth and throat.
Traditionally, Eszencia was added to aszu wines to further
enrich them. Miniscule amounts are released for sale at very
high prices. Though aszu wines are unique, they are
difficult to sell at prices high enough to be worth the
effort of making them. Even the well known, costly Sauternes
wines of Bordeaux are considerably less profitable products
than dry red and white Bordeaux.

When I visited the Tokaj
region in April of 2OO7, I expected to find the place
teeming with foreigners, particularly the French, who had
made the greatest investments in the area. I was pleased to
find only Hungarians who were enthusiastic and knowledgeable
about their work. Globalization had not blurred, nor had
four decades of communism irreversibly altered the profile
of the wines or the work force. On the contrary, the people
I met and the wines I tasted showed as much a sense of
discovery as of recovery. No longer encumbered, the rich
volcanic soils of Tokaj and the Hungarian spirit could now
identify themselves. Laszlo Meszaros, director of Disznoko,
put it succinctly: “One spirit. Varied soils.”
Experimentation with new crossings – such as Zeta and Kabar
– and traditional, but rare varieties – such as Koverszolo,
as well as newcomer international varieties such as
Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc – show that Hungarians have
an open mind about the future. Producers are currently
trying to clarify and update the last official vineyard
classification system dating back to 18O3. They are
reclaiming old, difficult-to-work vineyards in the
foothills.

The indelible memory that
remains of my visit is Janos Arvay holding chunks of
multi-colored volcanic rocks, proudly identifying the wines
from which they were born. The renovated, modern Arvay &
Co. winery is encased in a grand centuries-old building.
Janos Arvay, former enologist at the communist
Tokaj-Hegyalja State Winery, former enologist at the AXA
owned Disznoko winery, is now himself co-owner of the winery
that bears his name. His partner is an American businessman
of Hungarian descent. Since 1998, Arvay had assembled pieces
of vineyard land amounting to 12O hectares. Eighty-two
hectares are now in production. He directed the renovation
of the winery. He makes the wines. He traveled five times to
the USA in 2OO6 to sell his wines and to confer with his
partner. He stood beside his daughter, Angelika, who works
closely with him. She translated his energetic rapid
Hungarian into English. “Hungarians, by nature, have been
pessimistic. After one or two failures, there are no more
attempts. Our purpose now is to go to the peak.”