Tokaji Essencia is one of the rarest of wines.
It’s also one of the strangest, tastiest, priciest and most life-enhancing. It’s so luscious, so rich, so complex, so concentrated and so syrupy and gloopy that it’s best supped from a crystal spoon. Seriously. It’s a crazy treat unlike anything else. I’ve just tasted the soon-to-be released 2017 Essencia from the Royal Tokaji Company and can’t stop smiling.
Produced in and around the towns of Mád and Tokaj – at the foot of the Zempléni Hills, 200km north-east of Budapest, in what is the world’s first classified wine region – Tokaji is Hungary’s gift to the world, a glorious sweet wine made from shrivelled (aszú) Furmint, Hárslevelú and Muscat de Lunel grapes, hand-picked one by one and gathered in a bucket or wooden basket called puttony.
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The grapes are placed in a steel container with a rack at the bottom, their own weight eking out a small amount of free run juice. The dried, raisin-like grapes that remain are mixed with a dry base wine and fermented in oak, the level of sugar in the resulting wine being determined by how many puttonyos of aszú grapes are added.
Tokaji wines of five or six puttonyos are delectably sweet, full of marmalade, confit citrus and barley sugar, countered by a thrilling, racy acidity. I can’t think of finer partners to foie gras, say, tarte tatin or très vieille Mimolette cheese.
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But let’s go back to that free run juice. Collected into glass jars, it can take up to ten- ten! – years to ferment, thanks to its intense sweetness, with the resulting wine as natural as can be – seriously high in sugar and seriously low in alcohol – celebrated both as an aphrodisiac and as a bringer-back-to-life.
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Tokaji all but disappeared during communism. That it didn’t is down in large part to the Royal Tokaji Company (RTC), founded by the great Hugh Johnson and others in 1990. Other fine producers who have helped revive these extraordinary wines include Château Dereszla, Degenfeld, Disznókö, Oremus and Patricius, all of which make superb examples.
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RTC is about to release its 2017 Essencia and it has already delighted those in the trade lucky enough to have been invited to a preview tasting, so ridiculously, grin-inducingly delicious is it.
Who knew an aphrodisiac and a bringer-back-to-life could be so darn tasty?
‘Vinous Viagra,’ said one wag.
Three tempting Royal Tokajis
2003 Royal Tokaji Essencia
A notably hot summer/autumn that resulted in the richest ever vintage of RTC Essencia, balanced by excellent acidity.
Full of typical marmalade notes, candied orange and barley sugar, there are hints of aromatic rose petals too. It lingers many minutes in the mouth after swallowing and is nothing if not utterly lip-smacking. 2,408 37.5cl bottles made.
£433.73 per 37.5cl; Morgan Classic Wines
2007 Royal Tokaji Essencia
With a wet start to the harvest giving way to a sunny October that year, there is fine concentration of fruit here with richness and balance.
A soft, silky texture gives real pleasure and despite 560 gpl of sugar (and just 1.7 per cent vol alcohol), there is a hint of tannic dryness on the finish. 2,057 37.5cl bottles made.
£3,005.57 per 6*37.5cl in OWC; Bordeaux Index
2017 Royal Tokaji Essencia
‘The diamond at the top of our crown, says winemaker Zoltán Kovács of RTC’s latest Essencia. It’s fabulously sweet, with 557 grams of sugar per litre, but the high acidity provides perfect balance and the alcohol is minimal at 2.2 per cent vol.
Intense and rich, there are complex hints of strawberries, lychees, elderflower, herbs and marmalade. A glorious wine of which 4,770 37.5cl bottles were made.
c£595 per 37.5cl; Farr Vintners
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 96. Click here to subscribe
