Tokaj

Tokaj is the historic dessert-wine region in Hungary's northeast, where the Bodrog and Tisza rivers create autumn fog conducive to noble rot. Aszú berries — Furmint and Hárslevelű grapes shriveled by Botrytis cinerea — are added to dry base wine in measured puttonyos to produce Tokaji Aszú at varying sweetness levels. Dry Furmint has emerged as a parallel category over the last two decades.

Famous appellations

• Tokaj-Hegyalja

History

Tokaji Aszú is documented from the mid-17th century, predating Sauternes and Trockenbeerenauslese by decades. It became the favored dessert wine of European courts; Louis XIV reportedly called it the wine of kings. Communist-era state production hollowed out quality; post-1990 foreign investment (Vega Sicilia's Oremus, Royal Tokaji, Disznókő) and a new generation of Hungarian growers rebuilt the region.