On Tuesday it was off for lunch and a formal tasting of some Hungarian wine. Hungary is best known for its’ Aszu wines: sweet dessert wines that can range in sugar content from 60 grams per liter all the way to 180 grams per liter; after that it’s Esszencia which can range from 180-800 grams … that’s a lot of sweetness – some Esszencia can be as thick as syrup but the aromas and flavours that come out are outstandingly beautiful. These wines come from a region called Tokaj; you may have even seen Tokaji on a label of those cute 500ml bottles – the “i” just signifies “from the region of” – so Tokaj is the region and ‘i’ is just the indicator. These wines are all made from local grapes, Furmint making up 60% of the grown varieties in the area, with Harslevelu making up another 30 … that leaves only 10% for grapes such as Sarga Muskotaly, Zeta, Koverszolo and others. Very few plantings of more well-known vinefera grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah are planted – and if they are it’s for private home-winemaking use only. Don’t try to tackle those local grapes names on your own, had they not put them up on the overhead at the front of the room I wouldn’t have ever understood them as grape varieties or even as real words, let alone known how to spell them. It was like they were speaking a foreign language (which they were).
Hungary is all about white wines … (Read more)