Te Classic Dessert Wine – Tokaji Aszú
Te process by which the great dessert wines of Tokaj, Hungary are made is a fascinating one. Every grape has sugar in it. For a dry wine, the sugar and yeast combine to make alcohol, with the sugar being consumed during fermentation. In contrast, dessert wines keep or get their sweetness at the end of the process, as fermentation is stopped before completion or is unable to remove all residual sugar, thereby leaving behind that luscious sweetness. Here is the way they do it in Tokaj: Te grapes are allowed to stay on the vine after the normal harvest, creating more sugar to leave behind after fermentation. Te grapes get botrytis, or noble rot, as they are attacked by the fungus Botrytis. Te fungus punctures the skins of the grapes and causes dehydration, leaving them looking rotten or like raisins. As a result, grapes made by botrytis and late harvest produce a fraction of the wine that ripe grapes do, and this, of course, is one of the primary reasons dessert wines are expensive. Referred to as Aszú in Hungarian, the process is part of the name of the great wines of Tokaji Aszú. Te methods of late harvest and botrytis are how Aszú is made, but the story of how this began is a combination of mystery and legend. Why in the world would anyone leave grapes on the vine to rot without fully being aware they would make majestic wines of sweet perfection? As is the case with many a great invention, it happened by mistake. In ancient times, vineyard workers were told when to harvest
50 slmag.net
Written and photographed by Scott Harper, Master Sommelier
the grapes by the landowners. One legend purports that a vineyard owner was away at war or detained by illness or other situations. Te workers, being afraid to harvest without the direction of their owner, left the grapes on the vine, which caused them to over-ripen and be attacked by botrytis. When the owner fnally returned months after the usual harvest, he was aghast at the appearance of the grapes and mad at the vineyard workers inaction. Despite thinking all was lost, he ordered the vineyard workers to harvest and make wine from the “rotten” grapes. Te resulting wine was rich, lush, sweet and delicious, and all was forgiven. While the story seems a bit magical, it is probably rooted in some truth. Botrytis simply cannot occur in most vineyards, and when it does, it is not consistent. Of the grape varieties in the region of Tokaj, the most important is Furmint, followed by Hárslevelű and Muscat Lunel. Indigenous to Hungary, Furmint is very susceptible to botrytis and represents the majority of the Aszú blend. Botrytis is widely assisted in Hungary by the confuence of two rivers: the Bodrog and Tisza. Te presence of rivers or bodies of water increases humidity, which is essential for the fungus to grow. Additionally, most growers will make multiple passes through a vineyard, days or even weeks apart, to pick individual bunches of overripe botrytized grapes and in some cases even individual berries.
