Tokaj, the King of wines

When I was working in Holdvölgy during my gap year, I didn’t have time to visit too many wineries, therefore I jumped at the chance when I was invited to the Szepsy media luncheon, the winery located in the village of Mád in Tokaj and the neighbour of Holdvölgy.

Szepsy is a family own estate that has been making wine in Tokaj for more than 500 years. It was this family  who developed the Aszú technique in 1631 thus creating the king of wines. Unlike Sauternes that ferments both healthy and botrytis grapes together, Tokaji Aszú wine is made by adding aszú berries (heavily botrytis raisiny grapes with over 500g/l sugar) to healthy grape juice, fermenting wine or finished wine from a few hours to a few days before pressing and continue fermentation. The botrytis process dehydrates the grapes therefore concentrates the acidity and minerals, resulting in extremely rich and complex wine with a fresh finish. István Szepsy Jr, the 16th generation of the family, explained that using juice as base gives a fruitier wine but with a shorter finish, while Aszú wine using finished wine as base has a more complexity and oxidised character. He prefers to use fermenting wine as it captures the best of both worlds. The 2008 vintage we tasted, with150g/l sugar (equivalent to 6 puttonyos), was a joy. It was burst with flavours and every time I smelt, I sensed different aromas from floral and tropical fruits to honey and caramel. The acidity was just incredible.

 

Szamorodni, translated as ‘as it is’, is made using whole bunch of grapes that consisted of both healthy and botrytis grapes like Sauternes. The sweetness of the final wine depends on the degree or botrytis and therefore every vintage is different. We had the 2013 vintage, a lighter wine comparing to other vintages and it was great with the roasted pork, suckling pig and chilli prawns.

We also tried Szepsy’s dry Furmint from two different vineyards. The Szt. Tamas 2016 has a good structure with layers of aromas. I like Furmint for its acidity and freshness that make it particularly food-friendly.

At the end of the delicious lunch at Ying Jee Club, we were treated Szepsy Tokaji Esszencia 2007. Arguably the rarest wine in the world, Tokaji Eszencia is made from the free run juice of aszú berries that seeps out from the vats under the grapes‘ own weight. The juice has ultra high sugar content and takes years to ferment. The 2007 was rich and complex, and at the same time vibrant and fresh. Szepsy only makes Esszencia in good years. The last one was 1999 with 311 bottles, 2007 had only 200 bottles and 2018 will be the next vintage. The wine comes with a high price tag (HK$18,000 for a 500ml bottle) but in my view, it is a bargain comparing to first growth Bordeaux.

Szepsy is available from Wine Peers.

The ugly duckling of grape

The third stop of my wine-making gap year was Mád, a small village in Hungary’s Tokaj wine region with the most Grand Cru vineyards sites classified in 1737. The village only has three restaurants, two mini-supermarkets, one bar and it takes Sunday off. This solitary place surrounded by rolling vineyards with majestic sunrise was my home for a month where I learnt all about Aszú berries, the ugly ducking of wine, under the guidance of the Holdvölgy team - winemaker Tamás Gincsai, viticulturist Károly Erdélyi and three wonderful ‘Aszú’ ladies. These Aszú berries will be transformed to one of the most beautiful wines in the world.

Botrytis Cinerea is a mould that infects grape berries under humid condition, and it can turn into undesirable grey rot or the sought-after noble rot. For noble rot, berries must be ripened when they are infected. The misty humid mornings must then be followed by warm and sunny afternoons so affected berries can be dehydrated thus concentrating the flavours, sugar and acidity. Berries affected before they are ripened or if the weather does not cooperate, the mould will turn into grey rot. Noble rot berries shrivel like raisins and taste sweet with intense aromas. In contrast, grey rot berries are totally dried inside (imagine a paper balloon) and taste musty and sour. A bunch of grapes often consists of healthy grapes, and various degree of noble and grey rots.

A few wine regions are famous for their noble rot sweet wine but I have to say Tokaj is the region that really masters the art of noble rot winemaking. Tokaj makes different styles of wine from botrytis grapes at different stages of development therefore pickings are extremely selective. Any one parcel of vines is picked a few times during the harvest season. Picking is a long process, naturally done by hand and with cautious. At Holdvölgy, a 26ha wine estate, the 2017 harvest began on 30th August and lasted until mid November. I experienced first-hand picking of the botrytis grapes for every style of wine.

Grapes for sparkling and dry wines were picked first. Only healthy bunches were picked and botrytis-affected berries were removed on site. This was followed by grapes for late harvest wine, which were picked a couple of weeks later. The grapes were slightly over-ripen with some noble rot berries. However, only bunches with around 20% noble rot berries were selected and all grey-rot berries from the bunches had to be discarded. The wine is sweet with intense ripe fruits aromas and a hint of botrytis bouquet, similar to an Auslese from Germany.

Szamorondni is a Polish word meaning ‘as it is’. It is a traditional style of Tokaji wine that is made from grape bunches picked as they are, including both healthy and noble rot berries with various degree of botrytis. It can be dry or sweet. Grape bunches with less noble rot berries are used to make dry Szamorondni, while those with more noble rot berries are used to make the sweet Szamorondni. Holdvölgy made both styles in 2017 and these grapes were picked at different time when winemaker Tamás reckoned the grape bunches were ready for the style of wine he had in mind.

Holdvölgy planted all six permitted grape varieties in Tokaj: the well-known Furmint, Hárslevelü and Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), as well as the lesser-known Zéta, Kabar and Kövérszölö. They ripen at different time with Zéta being the first and Furmint the last. Picking started at sunrise and viticulturist Károly would tell the team what to pick - healthy bunches of Hárslevelü only with no botrytis berries, Sárgamuskotály bunches with 20% or 50% noble rot, or pick all Furmint except those with more than 80% botrytis bunches. Károly followed the weather forecast closely as it could change the harvest plan. For example, if rain or cloudy weather were forecasted in the next few days, noble rot development would slow and more grey rot could develop. In any case, removal of grey rot berries was absolutely necessary. It is easy to differentiate the bad rot from the good one when there are only two berries but believe me, it is confusing when you have to look for them in a bunch. I had to use all my senses - sight, smell and taste to make sure I did the job properly.

And those were the easy pickings.

The most time consuming was the picking of Aszú berries, the heavily botrytis, raisin-like berries. Berries are picked individually only when they achieve the level of botrytis equivalent to over 500g/l sugar (around 27% potential alcohol). Different grape varieties and bunches/berries develop botrytis at different speed therefore each bunch has to be visited a few times before all the berries are picked - a painstakingly long and slow process. While the picking team was busy selecting the bunches to pick, the three ‘Aszú’ ladies at Holdvölgy would patiently pick the ‘ready’ berries, about 40 kg on average per day (a bunch of grape weighs around 1kg). They would do so every day during the entire harvest season until the last Aszú berries were picked.

Tokaji, the king of wines, is made in a unique way different from other noble rot sweet wine. Sauternes is made the sweet Szamorondni way using a mix of healthy and noble rot grapes; while Beerenauslese (BA) and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) are made only with botrytis affected berries. In both cases, grapes are pressed and only the juice is fermented. Tokaji is made by macerating Aszú berries in fermenting or finished base wine from 10 hours to a few days before they are pressed and continued to ferment. This skin contact method similar to that in red wine making extracts more flavours from the raisin berries. The wine is therefore extremely rich and complex. The sweetness of the wine depends on the amount of Aszú berries added to the base wine, traditionally measured in puttonyos. Tokaji 3 puttonyos has at least 60g/l residual sugar, and Tokaji 6 puttonyos has a minimum of 150g/l residual sugar. The Hungarian grapes have high natural acidity and the dehydration process also concentrates the acidity therefore Tokaji always has an incredible fresh finish no matter how sweet the wine is.

Unfortunately, after World War II during the Communist era, state-owned Tokaj producers flooded the market with inferior sweet wine. The wine, heavily oxidised and often artificially sweetened, was labelled with various puttonyos. According to Gergely Somogyi, editor of tokajtoday.com, the 70s and 80s were the darkest period of Tokaji wine. In the late 1990s after Hungary became a republic, independent wineries re-established in Tokaj with the aim of reviving the industry. In 2014, the Tokaji Trade Council eliminated the 3 and 4 puttonyos categories, and introduced the new quality level, Tokaji Aszú, for the 5 and 6 puttonyos categories. The term puttonyos was therefore officially abolished. For a wine to be named Tokaji Aszú, it must have at least 120g/l residual sugar. Wineries welcomed the change as part of a renaissance for the Tokaj region.

Tokaj was the first wine region to be demarcated in 1737 and the Mád basin has the highest number of Grand Cru sites of mostly volcanic soil. The story of Holdvölgy, translated as moon valley, began with a one-hectare vineyard in the Nyúläszó Grand Cru site in Mád, a birthday present from Pascal Demko’s mother to his father. Pascal, a trained lawyer with a passion for wine, slowly acquired more land and eventually made his first wine in 2006 from 26ha of vineyard in seven Grand Cru sites in Mád. Today, the estate produces two ranges of wine: Holdvölgy with a elegant and classy label, and Hold And Hollo, an eye-catching, stylish label for casual occasions and cool consumers.

The quality of Holdvölgy award-winning wine is without doubt. Both ranges are being served in fine dining restaurants and trendy bars in Europe; and Hong Kong sommeliers and wine lovers are asking for them. Having spent a month with the team, one word that constantly popped in my mind about Holdvölgy is precision. From grape picking to wine labelling, every process is immaculately carried out to convey the essences of the estate and its wines. Vision is a dry white blend of Furmint, Hárslevelü and Kabar that defined the house style; while Signature is a sweet blend combining various Tokaji winemaking techniques such as but not limited to late harvest, Szamorondni and Aszú, that Pascal compared to free style figure skating - freedom to express using highly skilled techniques. The other wines are called Meditation, Exaltation, Eloquence and so on - names that reflected exactly what are in the bottles. Even the easy-going Hold And Hollo range is presented in a highly orderly manner where the capsule, the silicon label and the bottle are all aligned.

Some people compare winemakers to artists but I would say Holdvölgy is more like a designer, which probably comes from Pascal’s professional training.The team creates beautiful wine and communicates it effectively to the customers. Looking from the other way, customers have high expectations after seeing the bottles and they are not let down by the content. Artists can be emotional whereas designers are unambiguous but both achieve perfection in different ways.

Holdvölgy wine is not available in Hong Kong or China yet. I have no doubt both ranges will be well-received by consumers. Hold And Hollo label will be a hit if marketed right. All Pascal needs is a far-sighted partner who shares his vision.

Hungarian wine treasure

Most of us know Tokaji for its famous sweet wine, but fewer of us know about its dry wines. So when Helga Gál, Hungary's first female sommelier and Official Sommelier of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, conducted a Hungarian wine workshop with the support of The Food and Wine Academy of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University recently, I gladly attended.

A little history: Hungary has been making wine since Roman times, and Tokaji was the first wine region ever to be classified. That was in 1730, 120 years before the famous Bordeaux 1855 classification. Hungary, together with France and Germany, were the top three wine producing countries in Europe then. However, the wine quality went downhill during the communist era and only revived in the mid 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet empire and the associated increase in foreign investment.

Today, Hungary grows international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay alongside its native varieties, which include the white Furmint and Hárslevelü (both used in Tokaji sweet wine) and the black Kékfrankos (equivalent to Blaufränkisch in Austria). I always have a soft spot for indigenous varieties. They are unique to their regions and reflect the culture and sense of place better than international varieties. It is just like eating local food when you visit a country—it represents the tradition and soul of the people.

Having said that, I have to say Cabernet Franc does shine in the warmer South Pannonia region in the south of the country. It is the hottest region in Hungary with mild winters and long, dry, sunny summers, allowing Cabernet Franc to express itself fully with a depth and complexity quite unlike its Loire’s counterpart. Of the local varieties, Furmint is my favourite. It is fairly full bodied but its vibrant acidity and minerality lend finesse. Its styles range from young and fruity to aged and complex.

Helga is enthusiastic, not only because she is the travelling ambassador of Hungarian wine but also because her family has been making wine for generations. During the workshop, she encouraged attendees to ask questions and talked in depth about the wine. The one and a half hour workshop was finished in no time.

And I must mention that this tasting would not have been possible if not for the equally enthusiastic Csilla Maróti, another Hungarian lady relatively new to Hong Kong on a mission to introduce quality Hungarian wine to the market here via her company, Veritas Wine. Wine may be a commercial product but it is not a commodity. It needs the passions of people like Helga and Csilla to excite the consumer. I wish Csilla every success in pursuing her dream.

The two wines that I liked most at the workshop were:

Malantinszky Kúria Organic Cabernet Franc (unfiltered) 2007: Cabernet Franc showing its great potential in Villány in the Pannonia region. Intense and complex, balanced by lively acidity and a lingering finish. Available from Veritas Wine.

Szepsy Tokaji Furmint 2009: concentrated fruit with a mineral palate. An elegant wine with ageing potential. Available from Wiseville International.

Other Hungarian wine entry: Holdvölgy

Holdvölgy, modern marketing thinking

Most wine lovers are probably unaware that Tokaji was the first wine region to be classified, way back in 1730, 26 years before port wine and 125 years before the Bordeaux 1855 classification. The vineyards were sorted into three classes based on the soil, sun exposure and potential to develop noble rot. Tokaji Aszú wine has long been enjoyed by royalty, writers and composers, but, like most Eastern European countries, Hungary fell victim to communism, and not until the Soviet Empire's collapse in the 1990s did its glory slowly begin to revive. In 2002, UNESCO recognised Tokaji as a World Heritage Site for its distinct vinicultural tradition.

Holdvölgy (Moon Valley in English) is situated in the heart of this legendary region in the Mád basin (equivalent to Grand Cru). Pascal Demko, the passionate owner, strives to produce high quality wine true to the Tokaji region from his 25 hectares, comprising 19 parcels on seven different sites. Being a lawyer with a rational mind, Pascal employs a team of professionals including the young and enthusiastic winemaker Stéphanie Berecz, who is responsible for making all the outstanding Holdvölogy wines across its two lines: the classic luxury Holdvölogy line, and the premium, fun Hold and Hollo line.

There is no doubting the quality of the wine. But what impresses me most is the marketing thinking behind the two lines: in tune with today’s consumers yet true to the origin and conscious of quality.

The Holdvölogy line ranges from dry Furmint to sweet Tokaji Aszú. Pascal has given each wine a ‘philosophical’ name that reflects its character. The English names certainly save non-Hungarian consumers the embarrassment of attempting the seemingly impossible-to-pronounce Hungarian grape names:

Meditation - Dry Tokaji Furmint: mineral touch and refreshing;
Expression - Dry Tokaji Hárslevelü: floral and vivid;
Signature - Sweet Tokaji Aszú style: Traditional Aszú wine with a contemporary twist;
Culture - Sweet Tokaji Aszú: Superior quality and traditional

The first vintage was 2006 for Culture and 2007 for the others. They were only released in 2011 and are now selling at Michelin star restaurants in London.

Coming from a background of marketing consumer goods when wine was still largely confined to the ‘connoisseur’ segment, I find the wine industry in general is, even today, still quite conservative when it comes to marketing. So I definitely give a thumbs up to Pascal’s second brand, Hold and Hollo. In my view, this should be a hit with young, fun loving consumers. Marketed under two labels: dry and sweet with sharp green and pink latex labels respectively, Hold and Hollo does not emphasise grape varieties or vintages, but focuses instead on innovation, creativity and originality. I can see the young 20+s sipping it in bars, and, if allowed, it could even be selling in the lifestyle sections of department stores like Lane Crawford, City Super and Selfridges.

Pascal has no representative in Hong Kong or Asia yet, but I am confident that a like-minded distributor would find representing Holdvölgy and Hold and Hollo rewarding.

Tasting in Guangzhou

I hopped on a Guangzhou bound train for a cool climate wine tasting last week, part of a three-city (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) tasting tour organised by the Austrian and German embassies to celebrate the launch of the ‘Cool Climate Wine’ book written by Susie Wu and Michael Thurner. Some 63 wineries from Austria, Germany, Alsace and one from Tokaji were invited to present their wines.

China is supposedly a red wine-loving nation, so, apart from just tasting, I wanted to see how mainland Chinese drinkers responded to these mostly white wines from cool climates. The results were interesting.

I started with whites, tasting the Austrian Grüner Veltliner in the company of a local importer. After two glasses, he was already looking for reds and strayed away.

Only about an hour into the tasting the place got noisier, and merrier, and more alcohol was consumed—no one was spitting apart from me. Broadly speaking, there were two types of conversation among guests: price—how much for a container?—and status—how important the guest was (it seemed most were the biggest importer somewhere). Among the producers several carried the bemused look of someone in China for the first time. I asked a few what they thought. All said they were impressed. Perhaps they still had the illusion that ‘if every Chinese person spends one dollar on my product...’.