TOKAJI A CLASSIC - LOST & FOUND BEN HOWKINS 1999 n TOKAJI A CLASSIC - LOST & FOUND BEN HOWKINS The International Wine and Food Society n CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Page 2 IN THE BEGINNING Page 6 THE GONCI CASKS Page 8 TTHE WINEMAKING PROCESS Page 9 THE VINEYARDS Page 10 FIT ONLY FOR A SOVEREIGN Page 12 A SECOND RENAISSANCE Page 14 THE THIRD RENAISSANCE Page 16 VISITING TOKAJ Page 19 BEHIND THE TOKAJI LABEL TODAY Page 20 WINE AND FOOD PAIRING Page 22 INTERNATIONAL WINE & FOOD SOCIETY Page 23 BEN HOWKINS Page 24 WWW.ROYAL-TOKAJI.COM 3 n INTRODUCTION ungary's Tokaji wines have always had a powerful yet mysterious reputation. One reason was the exotic location of the tiny picturesque vineyards, sheltered from cold easterly winds by Russia's Carpathian mountains. As Michael Broadbent said in his Great Vintage Wine Book: "Perhaps Hthe most remote and strange of all the great classic wines, Tokaji comes from a small district in Hungary which is little more than a perfectly formed vine-clad hill about 30 miles from the Russian borders - surely conceived by the romantic imagination of some Transylvanian god." Its fame also owed something to the reputed healing powers of the wines, for the Princes of Transylvania (now part of Romania) insisted that these rich, fragrant vintages be nurtured to almost magical potency. A legend, propounded by several Italian humanist authors, asserted that the hills of Tokaj contained strains of gold ore and there were golden shoots (aurea virgula) on some vine stocks. Paracelsus, the famous Swiss alchemist, had even performed prolonged experiments with Tokaj's famous grapes, but lamented that he failed to extract gold from them. Nonetheless, in the early part of the 20th century doctors would prescribe Tokaji Aszii to their favoured patients, possibly in the belief that the gold rumoured to be in the subsoil was responsible for the alleged health-giving properties in the wine. The greatest reverence has always been reserved for Tokaj's unique Aszii wines. These refreshing, yet sweet, vintages produced in limited quantities were always scarce and often rare, produced against the odds during the region's frequent invasions and battles. In addition, they attained almost unimaginable longevity: just before the Second World War, the great Fukier cellar in Warsaw contained 328 bottles of the 1606 vintage. Those privileged to taste them reported that the bouquet and flavour had undergone a marvellous transformation. Cocoa, strawberry and vanilla were said to be among the key aromas. Sweetness and richness are, of course, signs of wealth. Tokaji Aszii was simply the world's first great sweet wine. The Hungarians, whose Magyar ancestors had settled in their kingdom speaking a language unknown to their neighbours, had discovered the value of the botrytised grapes long before anyone else. Tokaji bottles were always expensive and brought up from the cellars for grand occasions. Weddings and feasts gave them an association with romance. But for the last half century, Tokaji Aszu has lain, or stood, unhappily and uneasily out of reach behind the Iron Curtain. It was not until 1994, when the first vintages of private 4 n production reached the West, that one famous wine writer ushered in the Tokaji renaissance with the words: "Tokaji as our ancestors knew it, is back." Today, Tokaji Asziis still come in the familiar sloping-shoulder 50cl-bottles, as they have for the last 400 years - a continuity that adds to Tokaji's nostalgic and mysterious reputation. It is also the only wine that traditionally matures upright in underground cellars, and is recorked every six years. A modern benchmark bottle of Tokaji Aszii would be a 5-puttonyos from the 1991 or '93 vintage. The colour is a clear, golden amber; the bouquet is full of honey, fat apricots and orange peel, elegant and complex, and the taste envelops enormous length and a richness seared by the wine's hallmark of lively acidity. One's eyes cannot but light up at the first sip. To appreciate the glamour and the reasons behind Tokaji's resurgence, we need to look at the history of Hungary, which clearly mirrors that of modern Europe. 5 n IN THE BEGINNING The concept of Tokaji 'Aszu', a word which literally means 'dried berries', has its origins in the raisin wine produced many centuries ago on the island of Malvasia off the southern coast of Greece. In the Middle Ages, Malvasia had come under the rule of Venice and it is recorded that in 1358 Hungary's King Louis the Great received 30 barrels of its wine as a war indemnity, much enjoyed by his noblemen. Supplies were increasingly hindered, however, by the ruling Turks and had to be diverted through Vienna. The taste for rich luscious wines had been established at Court, but it was another two centuries before Hungary produced its own. At first, the predominant wine-producing region was in the south, around Lake Balaton. However, the great Battle of Mohacs in 1526 brought the vineyard in the south under Turkish rule, and many growers took refuge in the foothills of the Tokaj-Hegyalja (Tokaj Hill) in the north east. Here they enjoyed relative freedom between the borders of a country broken into three areas, dominated by the Turks, Habsburgs and Transylvanians. The vineyards sit on gentle slopes bordered by the picturesque rivers Tisza and Bodrog beneath the dominant Hill. However, a bitter controversy raged about its boundaries concerning the rights of villages to use the magic word 'Tokaji'. This was not just a matter of quality control; before serfdom was abolished, Tokaj-Hegyalja citizenship carried with it a number of privileges granted by successive Hungarian rulers, such as exemption from tithes. Twenty-eight villages were eventually named, all situated on soil eminently suited for viticulture, consisting of crumbled lava deposits on top of volcanic rocks and fertile loess (windblown dust) amassed here over the centuries. Drainage was developed. Stones were removed, terraces built, the layout of vineyards supervised by the Chief Justice, and viticultural rules devised and enforced by heavy fines or corporal punishment. Tokajians refer to this period as their First Renaissance. Thereafter the reputation of Tokaji steadily grew. The importance of the wine in the Middle Ages is evidenced by the fact that from 1550 the grapes, which could be sold for gold, figure in the coat of arms of the County of Zemplen. By the end of the 16th century, the King of Hungary, Janos Szapolyai, had acquired a vineyard in those hills, as had powerful Hungarian noblemen such as Ferenc Dobo and the Bathoris. By 1570 the term 'Aszu grape wine' was listed in a textbook glossary – a copy of which is still treasured by the College of Sarospatak, the capital of the region. 6 n In the 16th century Aszu, according to Balazs' Szikszai Fabricius, was made from 12 different grape varieties. None of these, however, included the two main cepages grown today: the sharp furmint that contributes acidity and the indigenous harslevelu that gives a rich spicy flavour. Originally, the main variety seemed to be a grape called porcins, now extinct, of whose style nothing is known. Early in the next century, Mate Szepsi Laczko, a priest from the village of Erdobenye, started experimenting with the furmint grape, producing the first Aszvi wines as we know them. Laczko realised that the furmint grape could produce berries with more juice than harslevelu, but it took more than a century for the furmint to be widely utilised. Some time after his initial experiments, this resourceful priest, who had by then become steward of the household of Zsuzsanna Lorantffy, consort of Prince Gyorgy Rakoczi I of Transylvania, was about to start the vintage when news came of another Turkish invasion. The Hungarians flocked to the defence of their country and no one was available to pick the crop. Legend has it that when the harvesters returned to their vineyard in November, all the grapes had dried on the vine. Nevertheless Szepsi instructed his men to pick them. When they were piled up in the manner of the time, a glorious honeyed syrupy liquid began to ooze out. They called the amazing nectar Essencia. Meanwhile Szepsi, realising that the must of dried berries needed refreshing, blended the pulp with the table wine from the previous harvest. Thus Tokaji Aszu was created, and Mate Szepsi, "the man who invented Tokaji", is now one of the great personalities of wine history, just as another man of God, Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon, is known as "the father of champagne". 7 n THE GONCI CASKS Hungary was a continuous battlefield for many years. Christian armies fought the Turks, Hungarian separatists tried to win independence by defying the troops of the Habsburg emperor and Polish armies straddled the Magyar countryside. Despite this continuous warfare, which brought untold suffering and immense damage, not only did the Hungarians invent one of Europe's most valuable wines, but they continued to make it against immense odds. They then had to hide the precious produce from marauding soldiers. So they excavated rock or earth cellars, known locally as 'rock holes', the locations of which were kept secret. These single vaulted cellars provided surprisingly ideal maturing conditions. They were so small that a special sized cask was required. As the barrels were made in the local village of Gonc (or Gonz), the 30 gallon gonci (or gonczi) casks thus evolved as a local speciality. The humidity and mould created in these underground cellars contributed to the characteristics of Aszu wines. The first record of the gonci cask appeared in 1577.