Tokaji

Right lets go to Hungary, why ? To visit my dear friend Lady Nia & I've recently taken a bit of a shine to Tokaji wine, of which I'm learning more & more, here is a a bit of info. Tokaji is a sweet wine & can be absolutely delicious, stunning even, the wine comes from one of Hungary's better known regions Tokaj Hegyalja (hence the name).

This region is close to the Slovakian border and there are two rather large rivers that run alongside, the Bodrog & Tisza it is the mists that rise from these rivers that create the ideal conditions for Tokaji wine. Tokaji wine is strongly affected by noble rot which is a type of fungus & is widespread in the vineyards of this area.

There are 4 main types of Tokaji wine.

Tokaji Furmint

Is unaffected by noble rot & is a dry to medium wine, which for me is not what I'm after

Tokaji Szamorodni

Szamorodni means 'as it comes' this is were all the grapes that have been harvested are thrown together wether they are healthy or suffering from noble rot. So this means that the wine could be dry (szaraz) or sweet (edes) depending on the proportion of noble rot. These wines are then aged in a traditional cask, these casks are known as Goncs.

Tokaji Aszu

Aszu literally means nobly rotted grapes (are you still with me). In this production the healthy & noble rot grapes are separated, the healthy grapes are used to make dry white wine & the noble rot grapes are set aside. These noble rot grapes are extremely rich in sugar which means they hardly ferment. So the Aszu grapes are then smashed & pounded into a paste which they then add to the dry white wine, the sweeter the wine required the more paste is used.

You may have noticed on Tokaji wine, on the bottle it has a labeling of 3-6 puttonyos, I always wondered what this was, well this is the measurement of paste (Aszu) that is added to the wine. A puttony was the name given to a 20kg hod which they used to use to add the paste. Now this measurement just refers to the amount of residual sugar content that is in the finished wine.

So wines of 3 puttonyos have around 60gs, 4 puttonyos 90gs, 5 puttonyos 120gs & 6 puttonyos 150gs

The wines are then matured for between 3 - 6 years in traditional casks.

Tokaji Aszu Essencia

Is made in the same way as Aszu the exception is that it is only made in the best years & only from the finest vineyards. The sugar content is always 6 puttonyos & above, probably around 200gs of residual sugar, this enables the wine to age for well over a century without losing any of that delicious rich flavor.

Essencia therefore is the 'Daddy' truly wonderful wine, some of the worlds finest sweet wine, which is another reason to go to Hungary. If you have not tried any of this wine then please let some of that sweet Hungarian mist drift up into your soul & feel the warmth envelope your body.

I have been asked to run the Budapest marathon this year, I may go over but it will not be to run a marathon it will be to stock up on Tokaji, but good luck with the training Nia, hope it's going well.

I'm going to leave you with two wonderful pieces of classical Hungarian music which was introduced to me by my favorite marathon runner (no pressure Nia). These pieces are by Roby Lakatos a Hungarian gypsy violinist, I think you'll agree that they are absolutely wonderful.

Blessings x

11 Sunrise, Sunset.mp3

11 Hungarian Dance No.6.mp3