2009 Royal
Tokaji Wine Company Tokaji Essencia

BY NEAL MARTIN | AUGUST 15, 2022Hail,
hail the wonderment of Essencia! Drop-by-drop, by mere pressure of gravity alone
upon heavily-botrytised aszú grapes, a dribble of ultra-sweet, unctuous nectar so
extreme that it challenges the definition of wine ekes out. Despite the absurd
level of sugar (details below), the wine dances on the tongue thanks to its phenomenally
high acidity: a pachyderm pirouetting on a high wire. The Royal Tokaji
Company is soon releasing their 2009 Tokaji Essencia. It is the
company’s eighth release, following in the footsteps of 1993, 1999, 2000, 2003,
2007 and 2008. This bottle of Essencia was tasted over a 48-hour period. In
fact, it went on a “mini-tour” so that I could share it with anyone I encountered
in that period: my brother in Chiswick and my cousin down in Brighton, my
next-door-neighbour and a dozen or so attendees at a La Paulée-style Burgundy
lunch. One confessed that they thought they would never have the chance to
taste this fabled wine.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1660329777133-tokaji+essencia+2009.jpg">I recently
spoke with Royal Tokaji’s winemaker Zoltán Kovács. “It was an extreme vintage in
two phases,” he told me. “Budding was perfect. Then there was a drought that
lasted until mid-May. There was only 200mm of rain in the first five months. We
picked the first generation fruit from the end of September - the humidity was
perfect. But there was a very small window to pick as the weather turned rainy
from 10 October. It is 100% pure Furmint. The wine fermented over eight years
with another five years’ ageing in bottle. It has 1.8% alcohol [2% on the
label], 581.3g/L residual sugar and 11.8g/L total acidity.” 

The
2009 Tokaji Essencia comes in 1,386 individual red lacquer hand-crafted boxes containing
a 375ml bottle and an obligatory hand-blown glass spoon, which is not there for
decorative purposes. It does enhance imbibement, allowing that enormous hit of
sucrosity to land straight on the tongue instead of clinging to the sides of
your mouth or gums. It has a surprisingly bashful nose for the first 12 hours.
Whereas some burst from the glass, this chooses to unfurl and only as if toying
with you, gradually reveals scents of fresh fig, Medjool dates, Seville orange
marmalade and Clementines. I notice that the aromatics blossom on the second
day as it deftly slips into fifth gear. The palate also meliorates, obviously
unctuous and yet paradoxically weightless thanks to that acidity. Again, fig
features prominently allied with marmalade, demerara and quince, more
desiccated orange peel and syrup towards the harmonious finish. Wonderful
precision throughout, this magnificent Essencia that will outlast you and I. 99/Drink
2022-2172.© 2022, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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