NATURALLY SWEET WINES
Sweet wines are not made the same way everywhere in the world. Sweet wines are typically divided into two categories based on whether their flavour, style and character are shaped only by the sugar content of the grapes or by any other mixture or syrup containing sugar that is added to the wine.
This latter group is called fortified wine and is enriched with additional alcohol. Such wines are usually connected to very warm, dry regions and include types of wine such as port, madeira, marsala, sherry and many others.
Very different types of wine are made in cooler regions, where the grapes ripen and accumulate the necessary sugar content much later. These are naturally sweet wines. Sweet wines in this category are wines with a good structure and a high sugar concentration, created entirely by nature without any outside “help”. In the case of wines created without any artificial addition of alcohol, first place, of course, goes to wines from Tokaj.
Dried grapes are also often used in warmer regions to make non-fortified wines. The clusters are separated from the vine and are either laid out or hung up to dry before they are processed further. This takes place when the berries are sufficiently shrivelled, indicating they now have a high concentration of sugar. In fact, higher sugar content can also be achieved by drying the grapes on the vine (késői szüret/late harvest/Spätlese/vendage tardive), which is the easiest way to create sweet wine. Ice wine, on the other hand, is made in places where the winter is sufficiently long and with little rain, because in this case, the producers wish to leave the berries on the vine so that they freeze. Naturally, the goal here is also to achieve a high concentration of sugar, rather than the freezing itself. The average temperature has to be around -7°C for at least 6-7 days to allow the water inside the berries to freeze. The grapes are pressed outside and then the water is separated from the sugary must in the form of ice crystals, resulting in a very sweet and exceptionally fruity juice with modest acidity. The finest ice wines are generally made when botrytis is not present.
Most of the world’s naturally sweet wines are made from botrytised grapes.
One category of these that is unique and the most expensive in the world to make is “Aszú”. The acidity, alcohol and residual sugar constituting the wine’s body are in perfect harmony and in proportions unseen elsewhere. In ideal cases, Tokaji Aszú is not simply a dessert wine. The unique characteristics of the best Aszú wines make them exceptionally high-quality, meaning they may be consumed at practically any point of a meal.
The best naturally sweet wines are almost always produced from botrytised berries, i.e. grapes that have been infected with noble rot or botrytis cinerea. This is a fungus which starts to develop as a result of moisture, settling on the grape clusters during misty mornings and spreading through the berries during warm autumn days. This dehydrates the berries, thus increasing the concentration of acidity, sugar and the fungal colonies themselves. Botrytised wines may only be produced successfully in regions where the air humidity is higher than average and warm autumn weather is occasionally interrupted by short showers. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the regions where the world’s most renowned botrytised wines are made are all located near rivers, large lakes or even the sea. However, it is very risky; if the weather turns to rain in October, noble rot will become grey mould, which in extreme cases, may render the entire harvest unusable.
Fine sweet wines are not only made in Tokaj, they are also produced in the Mátra, Mór and Badacsony wine districts and historically were also produced in the vineyards of Eger, Ménes (Arad-Hegyalja) and Rust.
Internationally, the finest naturally sweet wines are produced in France next to the Loire, around Sauternes in the Bordeaux wine region and in Alsace, in Germany near the Rhine and the Mosel, and near Lake Neusiedl in Austria. These wines all have the aromas and flavours of the noble rot, botrytis cinerea, just like the wines from Tokaj. However, they are produced anaerobically, using reductive methods, making them very different in character from Hungary’s sweet Tokaj wines, whose wonderful structure and minerality are unmatched by wines from any other region.
TOKAJI ASZÚ
Tokaji Aszú is one of the best-known naturally sweet wines in the world. In 16th-century Tokaj, there were already specific descriptions about the production of sweet wines and those vineyards in the wine region most suitable for cultivating grapes to produce Aszú. Tokaj was the first wine region in the world to regulate the origin of its grapes and thus its wines. It could even be called the oldest system origin protection known today. Our ancestors made Aszú within a strict framework, striving to produce the best quality.
Aszú itself is none other than a base wine, to which individually hand-picked aszú berries are added, either during or after fermentation. Thus, the wine ferments twice, endowing it with unprecedented richness and variety of flavours. The aszú berries, which are picked by women over several weeks (one person can collect 12-18 kg of aszú berries a day) are stored in vats with a hole in the bottom until the end of the harvest. The extremely sugar-rich juice is squeezed out of the berries by their increasing weight, and this, the esszencia or essence, drips out through the hole. Most of this esszencia is returned to the already fermenting Aszú wines. It is rarely bottled on its own, and if so, in minute quantities.
Not all wine regions have the right characteristics to produce wines like Aszú. It requires a unique climate, in particular the presence of a large natural body of water. Tokaj itself is located at the confluence of the Bodrog and the Tisza, thus guaranteeing the humid autumn air needed to make such wines. And what is needed for good Aszú wine? A fungus called Botrytis cinerea, more commonly known as grey rot, is what creates this special ingredient. Perfectly ripe, healthy grapes are also a prerequisite for this noble rot to spread through the clusters.
Tokaji Aszú is not simply a dessert wine. Although it’s certainly true that it goes well with most desserts, it can also pair well with roast meat thanks to its wonderful structure. This typically includes goose and duck liver; however, meat from large game animals can also accompany a beautiful Aszú wine. Chestnuts, figs, cottage cheese and citrus fruit can all harmonise with it, while many people also say it pairs well with sweet, aromatic cigars.
The Tokaj wine region itself is a volcanic area formed about 15 million years ago, which gives special characteristics to the wines. Although Aszú is a sweet wine, this is not what makes it special. The truly diverse soils of the wine region offer unique opportunities for the vines, and that is what makes this wine stand out, even as an accompaniment to food. The trinity of the acidity forming the backbone of the wine, the alcohol and the sweetness are all in perfect balance. Tokaj sweet wines, especially Aszú, are therefore vibrant, lively and characterised by fruity and floral notes. When drinking Aszú, you can tell you have a sweet wine in your glass, but good Aszú is never recognisable by its sugar content, rather it is the incredibly complex, rich, unique structure of the terroir, even by global standards, that provides the backdrop for Aszú’s almost incomprehensible complexity.
The uniqueness of the soil, the climate and the two main Tokaj grape varieties, Furmint and Hárslevelű, are what set Tokaji Aszú apart from the rest of the world of naturally sweet wines. The Aszú wine is fermented together with the aszú berries and then aged in oak barrels. The 136-litre size typically used in Tokaj is known as a Gönci barrel. Barrel ageing with its resultant delicate contact with the air also shape the character, aroma and, above all, structure of the wines. Mandatory time of oak maturation is 18 months. Like any other wine in the world, Aszú wines are founded on excellent acidity, which ensure that the wines never feel heavy, despite often having a residual sugar content of around 200 grams/litre. When you consider all this, it becomes clear that Tokaji Aszú is not simply one of the best sweet wines in the world, it is rather a perfect terroir wine which just happens to contain sugar.