Cellar Nyakas (Nyakashegy Ltd), Tök, Központi Major,
Hungary
www.nyakas.hu
Nyakas lies in the wine region of Etyek-Buda, only about
25km to the west of Budapest. Vines have been grown in the region for
centuries, but it only got the official rank of Wine Region in 1990. Until
recently, the region has mainly made sparkling wines. Cellar Nyakas was
established in 1997 and has vineyards covering 110-120 hectares around the
villages of Budajenö, Perbál and Tök. The winery is in Tök and has capacity to
make some 6000 hl is temperature controlled stainless steel tanks.
2004 Budai Müller Thurgau
Thick, heavy nose. Powerful flavours; appears to have an oaky weight to
it. Good. 5/10
2004 Budai Chardonnay
Harvested in September and in late October, with the October harvest
undergoing malolactic fermentation.
A rich creamy nose with wood and grass. Round and full on the palate;
well-flavoured. Fairly simple. 4+/10
2004 Budai Sauvignon Blanc
Grapes picked in two harvests: end of September and the start of October.
Grassy, asparagus nose. Very full on the palate, but tastes identical to the
Chardonnay. 4/10
2004 Budajenöi Pinot Gris
Low yields; single harvest; malolactic fermentation. A much lighter nose than
the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, with much more varietal character. Good,
rich pinot gris fruit on the palate with an interesting minerality. Clean,
ripe, well-balanced. Very Good. 7/10
2004 Budai Cuvée
A blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Irsai Oliver.
A very fragrant nose reminiscent of gewurztraminer. Round and full, with some
scented fragrance that continues on the palate. An interesting wine. 7+/10
2004 Budai Irsai Oliver
A fragrant muscatty/gewurzy nose. Fairly full on the palate with fragrance, but
also a certain hardness. 5/10
Pannonhalmi Apátsági Pincészet (Winery of the Abbey of
Pannonhalma)
Winemaking started in the Pannonhalma-Sokoróalja when Benedictine monks founded
the monastery of Pannonhalma in 996 (a date that figures prominently on
Pannonhalmi's labels). Since the fall of communism, efforts have been made to
revive the viticultural traditions and the wineries. Pannonhalmi repurchased
Abbey vineyards and began replanting in 2000. The main grape varieties are
Rhine Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Welchriesling, Ezerjó and
Sárfehér. In addition, they have planted the more international Chardonnay,
Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. They currently have 37
hectares under newly planted vines and the first harvest took place in autumn
2003 from an area of 15 ha. Given that the wines I tasted were only the first
and second vintages produced, it seems to me that there is considerable promise
here.
2004 Pannonhalmi Tricollis
Cuvée
A blend of 50% Welschriesling, 30% Rhine Riesling and 20% Gewürztraminer. A
very interesting nose with the gewurz clearly coming through. Very round and
rich, spicy riesling flavours on the palate. A very interesting wine. Lots of
interesting after-flavours too. Huge length. Very Good Indeed. 8+/10
2004 Pannonhalmi Rhine
Riesling
Vines planted in 2000. A light fragrant zesty, limey Riesling nose. A
really rich texture on the palate. Good acidity; clean lime riesling fruit.
Good creamy body. A very nice wine. 8+/10
2004 Pannonhalmi Tramini
A light gewürztraminer nose. Heavy, creamy gewurz on the palate. Powerful, but
not overdone. A bit low in acidity maybe. Fragrant and rosey on the finish.
Very pleasant. 7+/10
2003 Pannonhalmi Chardonnay
A very smoky, oaky nose – clearly lots of new oak in this. Very clean
tasting. The oak works well on the palate which has some good ripe fruit. Very
well balanced. Very Good Indeed. 8/10
Villa Sandahl, Badacsony, Hungary
www.villasandahl.com
Villa Sandahl is a new winemaking company, owned and run by
two Swedish brothers, Thord and Christer Sandahl. It lies in the wine region of
Badacsony on the north side of Lake Balaton, where the Sandahls took over the
south-facing Zsuzsanna Vineyard at the heart of the region on one of the
steepest slopes of the Badacsony Hill. The vineyard is planted with 25 year old
vines of Riesling and Pinot Gris and covers 3.4 hectares. The Sandahls believe
that the vineyard has the same potential as some of the famous grand cru
vineyards of Alsace. 2004 was their first vintage, and I think they might
be onto something here. One to watch, I think.
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2004 Villa Sandahl Rhine Riesling-Pinot Gris, Zsuzsanna Vineyard
A lovely fragrant nose with riesling minerality and a richness and
tropicality from the pinot gris. Some acid is evident on the attack,
but it quickly fills with pinot gris richness. Superb balance
throughout. An exceptionally good wine. 9/10 |
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2004 Villa Sandahl Late harvest barrique Pinot Gris, Zsuzsanna
Vineyard
Half fermented in stainless steel, half in Hungarian oak barrique. A
very light soft nose. Rich and soft on the attack. Off-dry. 7g
acidity. Really good fruit on the palate; and you start to feel the oak
afterwards. Seems to lack a bit of character, especially varietal
character. Very Good. 6+/10 |
Tokaj Oremus Winery
The Oremus vineyard used to be the pride of the Rákóczi
dynasty's estate in the 17th century. Tokaj-Oremus was established
in 1993 by the Alvarez family, owners of Spain's Vega Sicilia. I'm reasonably
familiar with the Oremus wines, so just took the occasion to try one:
2003 Oremus Mandolas
Mandolas is the vineyard; the grape is the furmint.
A very powerful nose. Spicy and full. Very Good. 6/10
Tokaj Hills Winery
www.tokajhills.com
The Tokaj Hills Winery lies in the heart of Tokaj Hegyalja
in Bodrogkeresztúr.
2004 Tokaj Hills (Dry)
Furmint
Powerful nose. A big, big wine on the palate. Not entirely pleasant. Very
big and powerful. Plenty of acidity. OK 2/10
1999 Tokaj Hills Szamorodni
This would be a half puttony Tokaji. Aged in oak barrels for three years.
A curious sherried nose. A very curious wine. Very unusual. 4+?/10
2003 Tokaj Hills Late
Harvest Furmint, Chateau Lapis
A good late harvest nose with very light botrytis and lots of ripe fruit. Rich
and full. Sweeter than I would have expected. Very good balance. 5/10
2000 Tokaj Hills Aszú 6
Puttonyos
The same oxidised nose as the Szamorodni. Very rich and sweet attack.
Bitter caramel and orange flavours. Seems a very traditional style. 5/10
1993 Tokaji Hills Aszú
Essencia
A powerful fruity nose with hints of sweet citrus marmalade. And pretty much
the same on the palate as on the nose. Fine, but lacks style and lacks
focus. 5/10
Tokaj Classic Winery Ltd, Hungary
Tokaj Classic, which is owned by three classical musicians, András Bruhács and
two German partners, is now ten years old. It is situated in the town of Mád
and has eight hectares of grand cru vineyards in the Kiraly and Betsek areas,
which are planted with Furmint and Hárslevelü, with some Yellow Muscat planted
elsewhere. The vines are between 20 and 30 years old and yields are restricted,
producing a maximum of 800-1000 bottles per hectare.
2001 Tokaji Furmint
Halbtrocken
11.5% abv; 17.6g/l residual sugar; 7.2g/l acidity.
Soft nose; good interesting palate. Some oxidation. 5/10
2003 Tokaji Classic Cuvée
Late Harvest
12.5% abv; 117g/l residual sugar; 6.1g/l acidity.
Clean fresh nose. Beautiful balance. Sweet, with powerful acidity, especially
on the finish. 6/10
1999 Tokaji Aszú 5 puttonyos
11.5% abv; 153g/l residual sugar; 11.8 g/l acidity. Clean smoky nose. Very
elegant. Great depth of fruit. 7/10
2000 Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos
10.5% abv; 195 g/l residual sugar; 11 g/l acidity. With a flashy pewter label
(because, it was explained to me, it won't rot when you cellar it for a hundred
years).
A very sweet, rather medicinal nose. Very pure and elegant. 7+/10
1997 Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos
11.2% abv; 186g/l residual sugar; 10.6g/l acidity. A more oxidised nose than
the 2000. Really good balance and acidity. Great depth. It's interesting how
much mature it seems than the 2000.
Aranydukát Winery
www.aranydukat.hu
The Aranydukát Winery is based in the village of Tallya in
the north-western part of the vineyards of Tokaj Hill and has vineyards in
Tallya and Mád.
2003 Tokaji Sárga Muskotály
feledes
Yellow muscat; semi-sweet. Lovely light fragrant muscat nose. Very
nice. 6/10
2000 Tokaji Szamorodni Sweet
Very clean, slightly oxidised nose. Good on the palate. Not as weird as some
of the other szamorodnis. Loads of spice and acid. Very Good. 6+/10
2000 Tokaji Aszú 3 puttonyos
A nicely perfumed floral nose. A very fine 3 puttonyos with a good balance and
really good fruit. In a very modern style, with no oxidation.
2000 Tokaji Aszú 5 puttonyos
A more integrated nose than the 3 puttonyos, yet still light and very fresh. A
light, fresh Tokaji in a lovely clean, fresh style with good, spicy acidity.
Very nice. Very Good Indeed+. 8+/10
2001 Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos
Concentrated melony sultanas on the nose. Much more concentrated on the
palate. The flavours remind me of something, but I can't put my finger on it –
a melony durian perhaps? Very clean. Very good balance. Very Good Indeed+.
8+/10
The Royal Tokaji Wine Company
Ben Howkins of the Royal Tokaji Wine Company took a small
group through a tutored tasting of a selection of Royal Tokaji's wines.
Tokaji is one of the world's great sweet wines, and also
the first. The vineyards were first classified in 1700 by Prince Rakoczi of
Transylvania and it was reportedly Louis XIV of France who first called Tokaji
“rex vinorum, vinum regum” (the king of wines, the wine of kings). Catherine
the Great stationed soldiers in Tokaji to protect the vineyards she controlled
there.
The geography of the region, 200km north east of Budapest
on the same latitude as the Loire in France, is the determining factor in the
production of Tokaji. Tokaj, the main market town of the region, lies on the
confluence of the Tisza and Bodrog rivers. The Bodrog is a warmer river, and
the meeting of the warmer and the colder waters gives rise to mists in late
summer which favour the development of botrytis, noble rot, which further
concentrates the Aszu grapes. Each vine yields approximately one glass of wine.
The grape varieties for Tokaji are Furmint (around 70% of
plantings – a fragrant, quite tart variety which is high in tartaric acid and
which is particularly susceptible to botrytis), Hárslevelü (approximately 25% of
the vineyard area – fragrant with lime and honey, and full bodied, but less
susceptible to botrytis) and Muscat de Lunel (also known as yellow muscat, which
accounts for only 5% of the vineyards and is the most difficult grape to grow,
but provides an important flavouring).
Vintages vary greatly, and Tokaji Aszú is not made in all
years (there are on average only 3.5 good Aszú vintages out of every ten). The
grapes are individually picked, shrivelled, mouldy grape by shrivelled, mouldy
grape into 20 litre hods called puttonyos. Some of the Aszú grapes will release
their juices under their own weight in the hods: this free run juice goes to
make the rarest of Tokaji ‘wines', the true Essencia. Wines in inverted commas,
as this only ever ferments to a very low alcohol level and is very rarely drunk
like you might drink wine: by the teaspoon more like! Ben Howkins told me that
the Royal Tokaji Company's 1993 Essencia took eight and a half years to finish
fermenting and reached only 2.5% alcohol by volume: fewer than 300 bottles were
produced.
There are similarities between Tokaji and port and
champagne: all three are not straightforward wines, but have something happen to
them. The non-Aszú grapes (the ones that still look like grapes!) are fermented
into a dry base wine. Aszú grapes are then added, and the number of puttonyos
of Aszú berries added per barrel determines the puttony level of the wine, which
is printed on the label. Originally the Aszú berries were added to the previous
year's wine, but now European legislation requires that all the wine in a bottle
come from the vintage shown on the bottle. Traditionally, the Aszú grapes have
to come from the same vineyard as the base wine.
The wine is then re-fermented (sometimes for up to two
years) in used 140 litre gönci barrels, normally made from Hungarian oak and,
after bottling, aged for a minimum of three years (often much longer) in cellars
running several kilometres underground. The cellars have over 90% humidity,
lots of black mould and the air is full of natural yeasts. The wine is normally
bottled in 50cl bottles, the largest size permitted by law, or smaller and will
usually need at least ten years for the fruit, residual sugar and acid start to
integrate.
The Royal Tokaji Company was founded in 1989, with Hugh
Johnson as a major shareholder. It is based in Mád, 12km north west of Tokaj,
where traditionally the vineyard owners and foreign wine merchants used to meet
each year to fix the price for Tokaji wines. Royal Tokaji make blended Aszú
Tokaji wines under a Red Label (made from grapes from 2nd and 3rd
growth vineyards) and a Blue Label (from 1st and 2nd
growth vineyards). In addition they make, in suitable years, single vineyard
wines: Birsalmas (2nd Growth); Betsek (1st growth);
Nyulaszo (1st growth), Szt Tamas (1st growth), Mezes Maly
(great 1st growth).
2003 Royal Tokaji Dry Tokaji
Furmint
Pale lemon gold. Lots of acidity. Very racy. Very Good.
2003 Áts Cuvée, Mézes Mály
A late harvest wine, named after winemaker Karoly Áts. Made in years when
there is no Aszú. A bright, fresh gold. Light botrytis nose with orange
notes. Rich and creamy on the palate with excellent acidity. Ben Howkins
reckons it will stand being served not too cold because of the acidity.
1999 Aszú 5 puttonyos blue
label
According to Ben, 1999 was a fantastic year for acidity. A light teak
gold. Big raisined nose with dried orange and grapefruit zest. The huge
acidity is immediately obvious, followed by round, gorgeous fruit. Quite peachy
with dried apricot flavours. Very good length. Very Good Indeed.
1999 Aszú 6 puttonyos Betsek 1st growth vineyard
The label is a copy of the 1901 label in the state archives. 800 cases were
made. The Betsek vineyard normally produces fuller and more earthy wines than
other sites. A deepish gold with tan shades. Quite an intense dried fruit nose
with marmalade. Very racy acidity. Beautifully balanced. Lots of dried citrus
fruit on the palate. Very Good Indeed.
1996 Aszú 6 puttonyos
Nyulaszo 1st growth vineyard
The Nyulaszo (which apparently translates as something like ‘to catch hares')
vineyard produces more elegant wine than the Betsek. This has a teaky gold
colour. The nose is very interesting: quite different to the Betsek, with dried
apricots, walnuts and salty almonds. Fresh, clean flavours, with very
concentrated fruits, yet very clean. Almost tannic on the finish.
Interestingly the difference between the last two wines was
merely down to terroir (and vintage): there is no difference in the winemaking
at all.
The striking thing about tasting Tokaji is how clean my
mouth was afterwards. This wasn't hard work at all. A lot of this is to do
with the acidity level of Tokaji, which has 3-4% less alcohol than Sauternes,
but double the acidity.
Olaszliszkai Winery, Tokaji-Hegalja
Olaszliszkai Borászati owns prime vineyards in eight
different locations (it was founded by seven grower-producers), which enables
wine-maker, Emerencia Hermann, to make full use of the different terroirs in
producing a final blend. The Aszú wines are made in a traditional style using
traditional methods that they proudly boast date back to the 1650s. Dry and
non-botrytised wines are made using modern technology. The wines are released
under the Emerencia Selection label. UK importer Fred Ku-Mesu took me through a
selection of the wines.
2003 Emerencia Selection Tokaji Furmint dry
An interesting nose. A rather powerful wine that would need something to cut
it, or as an aperitif. Very clean flavours. Big and unusual. Very Good/Very
Good Indeed.
2003 Emerencia Selection Tokaji Furmint Late Harvest
A very delicate floral nose. Really clean and fresh. Very Good Indeed.
2003 Emerencia Selection Tokaji Hárslevelű Late Harvest
A rather fuller nose than the Furmint without the floral notes. It easy – and
interesting – to see how they blend together. Sweet and full, with more body
than the furmint. Very interesting to try the two.
2003 Emerencia Selection Tokaji Cuvée Late Harvest
A blend of the Furmint and the Hárslevelű late harvest wines. A really good
nose – lightly honeyed and floral, with deep wide fruits. Deep and wide on the
palate with nice balance. It's easy to see how it blends the two varieties.
1995 Emerencia Selection Tokaji Aszú 3 puttonyos
An orangey, oxidised nose. Not at all cloying and only just sweet. OK.
1995 Emerencia Selection Tokaji Aszúeszencia
A light caramel colour. There's a touch of caramel on the nose with honey and
grapefruit. Full, round and rich on the palate, and a touch cloying with a
heavy feel. This needs time.
(19/5/05)