Oremus Aszu 6 puttonyos 2013

This cuvée comes from the Tokaj wine region, in the mountainous north-east of Hungary, where the Oremus estate lies at the geographical heart of the Tokaji area. The historic Oremus vineyard, already renowned in the 17th century, enjoys conditions particularly favourable to the development of noble rot, essential to the making of great Aszú wines.

The botrytised Aszú grapes are picked entirely by hand, in two or three passes. Six 25 kg baskets of Aszú berries are added to the base must, then macerate for two days before gentle pressing. The slow fermentation, which can last up to two months, takes place in new Hungarian oak barrels. The wine is then aged for two to three years in barrel, followed by a further year in bottle.

This wine reveals notes of lemon zest, candied orange peel, dried apricot, ripe nectarine, white fig, acacia honey, white flowers, camomile, saffron, ginger and sweet spices. The palate, generous and unctuous, combines enveloping sweetness with vibrant acidity that brings precision and freshness. Its silky texture stretches into a very long, persistent and harmoniously spicy finish.

It was the Romans who planted the first vines, at a time when the country was part of a region called Pannonia. At the dawn of the 18th century, Hungary, united with Austria, exported its most famous wine throughout Europe: Tokaj (made from the Furmint grape variety). As everywhere in Europe, winegrowing was destroyed by phylloxera in the 19th century. During the communist period, vineyards were run as cooperatives, which guaranteed winemakers a stable income. Quite a few small growers could not keep up with this expanding economy, so Hungary's vineyards were restructured, losing 30% of their area in the process. Today many family estates have made their mark, some of them producing wines of incredible quality. As elsewhere in Europe, winegrowing is declining under the European restructuring plan for the wine industry. Hungary, which lies at the same latitude as Burgundy, has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. Rainfall is sufficient for non-irrigated viticulture, and the soils are varied and of high quality depending on the region. With around a hundred native and international grape varieties, the country enjoys good varietal diversity. The Furmint and Hárslevelű of the Tokaj region, made as dry wines and the source of Tokaj's great sweet wines, are undoubtedly the best-known varieties today. The most widely planted grape variety is Olaszrizling for whites and Kékfrankos for reds. International grape varieties, mainly Bordeaux varieties, flourish particularly in the south of the country, where they produce wines of great class.