At least since the year 792 when Charlemagne appropriated a few acres of vineyards at Clos Vougeot for himself, sophisticated wine drinkers have sought dryer and dryer wines for their tables. Although it is true that dry wines go best with nearly all meals, it is somewhat sad that many people have forgotten that high quality sweet wines have a important place in the hearts of lovers of wine.

One of the world's greatest sweet wines, and one readily available is the world renowned Hungarian Tokay (often spelled in accordance with the Hungarian fashion as Tokaji). Grown in the vineyards surrounding the village of that name, not far from the Russian border in the northeastern corner of Hungary on the Tisza River, Tokay wine has a long and honorable history. When the Magyars migrated into Hungary from Russia in the 9th century, they found old vines on the fruitful southern slopes of the Tokay mountains. Interestingly, the wine that the Magyars grew and which earned a good name was a dry white wine. It was only in the 17th century, when a threatened attack by the Turks postponed the harvest and the grapes shriveled on the vines that the sweet red wine we know today was born. The over-ripe grapes had a much increased sugar content and from these almost rotten grapes, the sweet, strong Tokay was born.

Known as the wine of emperors, kings and cardinals, many consider Tokay one of the greatest wines of the world. A wine of great depth and intensity, made from Furmint and Harslevelu grapes, the color of the wine is usually reddish-brown or almost amber) and the name on the label is always Tokaji, which means that it comes from the town of Tokay. Many do not realize that there are three categories of Tokay - Aszu, Szamorodni and Eszencia. The best Tokays are those called Aszu and are made from late-harvested grapes that are encouraged to develop the mold known as Botrytis Cinerea , the action of which allows the water in the grape to evaporate, leaving behind a remarkably high concentration of sugar. After the juice is squeezed, the grapes are crushed into a pulp which is then added to the fermenting juice to make it even more sweet.

The labels of Aszu wines also carry the term "puttonyos", and this refers to the level of sweetness of thewine. A "putt" is a 25 kilogram measure of grapes, and the number of putts per barrel (the traditional barrel in Tokay contains 136 liters) of dry base wine determines the final richness of the wine. Ratings range from 3 to 6 puttonyos, six being super sweet indeed. Three puttonyos wines have 60 grams of sugar per liter and 6 puttonyos wines have 150 gr. of sugar. Continue to those wines categorized as Eszencia and you will find a minimum of 180 gr. and sometimes up to 230 gr. of sugar per liter. Some mistakenly think that 6 puttonyos Tokay is better than 3. That is not true. The wine is simply more sweet.

In making the version of Tokay known as Szamorodni, (Hungarian for "as it is grown"), all of the grapes that have been left over at the end of the harvest, ripe, over-ripe and even rotten are put in a vat together and the juice is fermented in the normal way. Although some find this dark yellow, sometimes sweet, sometimes dry but always fiery strong table wine to their taste, it does not share the fine reputation of better wines of the town.

The best Tokay wines stay fresh almost forever once they have been bottled. At the end of the Second World War, Russian soldiers found 300 bottles of Tokay that had been bottled in 1668 and several thousand from the vintages of 1682, 1737, 1783 and 1811. Because these wines had been stored in a standing position and not lying down and their corks had been changed every six years, the wines were all still drinkable. Several of those bottles made their way to the West and those who have been fortunate enough to taste them say that they had an indescribably delicious bouquet of fresh strawberries with just the hint of vanilla. One bottle of the 1682 vintage was auctioned several years ago in London and most concurred that the sales price of 27,500 pounds Sterling was quite reasonable.

Since 1979, the Hungarian government has insisted that all Tokay wine be pasteurized to stabilize it for shipping abroad. A benefit of this is that it is easier to make the wine kosher, but a negative impact is that since they started this policy the wines have not been quite as soft and velvety as they once were.
Another disadvantage was that under Soviet control, the quantity of Tokay being produced increased but showed a marked decline in quality. Happily, starting in 1991 - 1992, a movement was undertaken to revitalize the good name of these wines and wines from before 1979 and after 1992 the wines of Tokay remains superb and make excellent accompaniments to dessert souffles, cakes and fresh fruits such as apples, pears, peaches and apricots. Along with the great sweet wines of Sauternes, Tokay also goes marvelously with pate de foie gras or other goose liver dishes served as first courses. And, if one has a desire to emulate Rasputin, Tokay is also appropriate as an after-dinner drink, especially when munching walnuts or pecans.

© Daniel Rogov