Wset Advanced: Section 3/25 Hungary

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Hungary Wine Laws

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- deep-rooted winemaking tradition, Tokaji legaly protected from 18 century
*PDO on Hungarian is Oltalom Alatt Allo Erdetmegjeloles
- Mingosegi Bor - Quality Wine
- Vedett Erdetu Bor - Special Quality Wine
*PGI is Oltalom Alatt Allo Foldrajzi Jelzes
- Tajbor

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Climate

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- continental climate with short cold winters and long warm summers
- Best vineyards have southerly aspect and are often found on slopes
- Some sites have enough hummidity to promote noble rot

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Hungarian Grape Varieties

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White Varieties
*Furmint - high acid, white wines, apple flavours when young, with ageing develop nuts and honey flavours. Can produce premium dry white wine but because its prone to noble rot is basic grape for producing sweet Tokaji
*Harslevelu - (linden leaf), also late ripening and prone to noble rot and is using for sweet Tokaji
*Sarga Muscotaly - Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains (Muscat d'Alsace) - is a third variety used in Tokaji, its aromatic, orange flower
*Olasz Riesling (Welshriesling A or Grasevina CRO) - dry chrisp light white wine with bitter Almond aftertaste.
*Irsal Oliver - native crossing that produce intesely araomatic, spicy wines similar to Muscat or Gewurztraminer
Black Varieties
*Kekfrankos- (Blaufrankisch) - light pepery wih high acidity wines
*Kadarka - a premium grape but is prone to grey rot, needs best sites for full ripening, requires low yield to produce wine with character. Recently is replanted with Cab. Sauvignon.
- this two varieties is used for Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blod of Eger)

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International Grape Varieties

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- Pinot Gris, most exported wines are in Italian style light and simple, its labeled as Pinoit Grigio
- Cabarnet Franc, on south have potential for full bodied wine
- Cab. Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir are widely planted and produced inexpencive good wine.

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Tokaj

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- located on a foothills of the Carpathian mountains close to Slovakian border
- long and dry autumns
- enough hummidity for noble rot from rivers Bodrog and Tisza.
- three different categories of grapes during the harvest:
botrytis widespread on bunches called "aszu" (rotten) , where botrytis affected only on few berries, whole bunch is picked, called "Szamorodni" (as it comes) and non infected buches. This three different harvest produced diverent style of variety wines.
*Non-botrytis dry wines
- can vary in style from unoaket, fresh made do drik young to concentrated premium ageworthly blends. Its varietaly labelled, most common wine is Tokaji Furmint.
*Tokaji Szamorodni
- may be dry (szaraz) or sweet (edes) depend of amount of noble rot
- wines must be aged in cask for a minimum one year and be two years old before relase.
- cask for dry wines are not completely filled to enable form of yeast naturaly on the wine, so the wine develop character similar to Fino Sherry. It is not a case for sweet wines.
*Tokaj Aszu - production starts with base wine made from healhty grapes. During or after fermentation aszu berries is macerated for up to 36 hours. Using uncrushet aszu berries avoid bitterness. The mixture is pressed and wine is matured for minimum three years, two of each must be in oak barrel.
- Puttony is unit for express sweetnees in wine, the legal level of residual sugar is:
3 puttonyos - 60g/l
4 puttonyos - 90g/l
5 puttonyos - 120 g/l
6 puttonyos - 150 g/l
*Aszu Eszencia - the sweetest wine.
very rare and expencive, produced only in best years, minimum residual sugar must be 180g/l
- Aszu including Aszu Eszencia usualy matured between three and six years and wines have oxidative character.
*Tokaji Eszencia (Nectar) is made from aszu berries as free-run juice. Must is so sweet that take a year to ferment and even than wine have low alcohol less than 5% abv. The legal minimum level of residual sugar is 450 g/l this is balanced by very high acidity. They are able to mature and retain freshness for a century or more.