Royal Tokaji: 2017 Latest Releases
BY NEAL MARTIN |
Tokaji is one of Hungary’s greatest gifts to the world. Such is its importance to Hungarians that it’s even mentioned in “Himnusz,” their national anthem, which has lyrics translating as: “Let nectar’s silver rain ripen the grapes of Tokaji soon.” (That’s like “God Save the Queen” namechecking a pint of ale. Or maybe it does in one of the later verses that nobody remembers?)
I was recently sent the latest release, the 2017 vintage, from the Royal Tokaji Company, and I arranged a Zoom tasting with winery director Zoltán Kovács, who joined the company in that same year.
“The 2017 vintage comes after 2016, which was also good for Aszú berries, but completely different,” Kovács told me. “The growing season began with snow, and step by step we had higher temperatures. Rain fell until the end of April, then flowering took place under favorable conditions despite outbreaks of rain. A good amount of water accumulated in the soil, which is a key factor for the vintage. Summer saw even temperatures. August was quite hot (30°C), which helped the ripening, but there were no heat spikes like in 2018. There was a bit of rain in late August and September. For the early-ripening grape varieties such as Kabar, we started the Aszú berry picking on September 1, followed by the first selections of Furmint and Hárslevelú. October brought three weeks of very good weather when the quality of botrytis was excellent for the third picking. Then we finished the harvest in mid-November. We pick the berries when they are more desiccated compared to Sauternes, so we need more periods of dry weather.”
The 2017 vintage is the first where Kovács had complete control of the wine, tweaking the modus operandi in both vineyard and winery.
