Centurion United Kingdom Spring 2014

Sweet storehouse:

Sweet storehouse: barrels of Tokaji stack the cave at the ancient vineyard of Hétszölö excellence. “We are not going to teach them to make Tokaji,” says Pablo Álvarez, head of Oremus and Vega Sicilia, perhaps Spain’s greatest estate. “But we can offer our philosophy, which is to try and make nothing less than the best wine possible.” Today, draconian yields and painstaking grape-bygrape harvesting – keys to making opulent, old-style aszú wines – are again the norm in Tokaj. Centuries-old wines have been reborn, like Tinon’s astonishing dry Szamorodni, aged under a thin veil of yeast like Sherry or Jura wines, and, finally, Essencia, the ne plus ultra of Tokaji wines, made solely from free-run juice of botrytised grapes, epitomising the uncanny capacity of Tokaj’s furmint grape to balance lavish sweetness with delicate acidity. In 2013, Wine & Spirits named Royal Tokaji’s 2003 Essencia one of the year’s 100 best wines. A watershed year indeed, Royal Tokaji was also named one of Wine & Spirits’ Top 100 Wineries of 2013 – and they weren’t alone in the region. The winery of Hungarian István Szepsy also joined the Top 100 list, a potent reminder that Tokaj’s renaissance is no longer a primarily foreign-backed affair. Royal Tokaji may have pioneered the first single-vineyard aszú wines, but today growing numbers of wineries are probing the complexity of Tokaj’s volcanic terroirs, including celebrated Hungarian ventures like the Patricius and Beres estates. Local virtuoso winemakers Demeter Zoltán and Szepsy first showcased their talent working for Royal Tokaji and Királyudvar, but today focus on their own estates, creating the first single-vineyard dry Furmint bottlings – wines earning comparisons to the most expressive Côte d’Or Chardonnays. “Whether foreigner or Hungarian,” says Tinon, “what we all share is the desire to use the roots of the past to create wines for today.” Which certainly bodes well for Tokaj’s future. THE TALE OF TOKAJ Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002 for its pristine viticultural landscape, the storied region, which has been preserved for more than 1,000 years, boasts an otherworldly charm. Wine writers like Caroline Gilby even claim that arriving in the town of Tokaj after the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Budapest, one feels as if they’d “stepped into Tolkien’s Middle-earth”. There, where the rivers Bodrog and Tisza meet, visitors are surrounded by 5,500ha of vineyards and verdant, volcanic hills. Underground, and tunnelled into the hillsides, stretch kilometres of arched wine cellars, some dating back to the 13th century. As the world rediscovers Tokaji,it’s becoming easier to visit this breathtaking region. THE TIPSHEET Overnights are best at GRÓF DEGENFELD CASTLE’s charming hotel (hotelgrofdegenfeld.hu), or the stunning ANDRÁSSY REZIDENCIA WINE & SPA (andrassyrezidencia.hu). The region’s many great wineries merit tours, and gastronomic restaurants nestled amid the vineyards include SÁRGA BORHÁZ (sargaborhaz.hu), the restaurant DISZNÓKÖ (disznoko.hu) opened in the 19th-century press-house, and GUSTEAU (gusteaumuhely.com), an haute Hungarian restaurant at Szent Tamás winery. BEHIND A NOBLE WINE…IS A NOBLE ROT In rare micro climates (Sauternes, Neusiedlersee, Tokaj) the Botrytis cinerea fungus — from the Latin “grapes like ashes”— may attack vineyards, transforming grapes in appearance and flavour As Botrytis penetrates a ripe grape the skin becomes permeable, turning pink, purple, and finally ashen brown. Juices evaporate, concentrating natural sugars to unnatural levels. The grape becomes shrivelled (aszú in Hungarian), multiple chemical transformations occur: acid levels change, new substances – glycerol, dextrine – develop. The juice remaining is infinitesimal, but powerfully honeyed, fresh, unctuous and complex — the essence of great Tokaji. PHOTOS FROM TOP: HERBERT LEHMANN / STOCKFOOD, © OREMUS 90 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM CONTACT CENTURION SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS

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