Not far from the Polish, Ukrainian and Romanian borders, this area of Hungary is a gorgeous pocket of rolling hills, vineyards, and historic villages. This area used to be part of the greater Tokaj-Hegyalja region within the Kingdom of Hungary, but was divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Trianon. A region rich in history, and - of course - the wine isn't bad either... dry or Aszu (actually pronounced Ossu!) style.  |
| View of Mád through Tokaji vineyards |
The Royal Tokaji Company is located in one of the three principle villages of the Tokaji region Mád. I love it for the name alone: I'm sure we all think we sometimes live in the village of Mad!
There I was met by Istvan, the winemaker of over 15 years. With an armoury of stories and a twinkle in his eye, he showed me around his precious cellars. Friday afternoon was all about tasting the dry furmints, blends and single vineyard wines. As good as all these wines are, the most exciting moment was tasting our new exclusive blend from the 2012 vintage that we put together a few months ago from very young components. So this was the first time we tasted the finished product. It is also the first time that the Royal Tokaji Company has done an exclusive blend for any customer, and we will also have an exclusive label. You will love the wine!! To be launched October.
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| Istvan tasting with us from barrel. New exclusive 2012 blend. |
From the barrel room, we then headed to the old underground cellars which are full of fungus. If you are interested in this (and Istvan certainly is!!) have a look at the video below where all is explained...
My favourite story of the visit was about a group of Masters of Wine who were visiting a few years ago. There were 33 in the group but after the cellar visit, only 30 got back on the bus. Three were lost in the tunnels, the lights went out, and there was no mobile phone coverage. Being down in the cellars when told this story, I could see how the three involved weren't impressed by the experience. But Istvan recounted the story with a gleam in his eye: 30 out of 33 wasn't bad, no?
Saturday morning was all about Aszu wines. This was such a treat and reminded me to remind you all that we should be telling all our customers to get their hands on a bottle. With as much vineyard variation as Burgundy, and as much complexity as any of the world's great wines, everyone should have a bottle in their cellar.
For more photos, go to: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151697779296241.1073741844.738991240&type=1&l=fc048378be
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| Sunset over the Tokaji vineyards |
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