Sárospatak Castle Tokaji Sárga Muskotály 2016

This Tokaji Sárga Muskotály comes from a small vineyard in the south of the Tokaj appellation, near Tarcal, in north-eastern Hungary. The vineyard stretches at the foot of the Zemplén Mountains, on volcanic soils, where autumn mists rising from the Bodrog and Tisza rivers encourage noble rot. Sárga Muskotály, or Muscat à Petits Grains, accounts for only about five per cent of the appellation's plantings, making this cuvée a true rarity produced in artisanal quantities.

This cuvée is made partly as an aszú and partly as a sweet szamorodni. A first selection, carried out berry by berry in October, picks out the shrivelled, botrytised Muscat berries, which are macerated in fermenting must and then pressed. A second pass, in November, gathers whole, heavily botrytised bunches, which are gently pressed and blended with the first must. Fermentations continue quietly, then the wine is aged for about eight months in stainless-steel tanks to preserve the aromatic purity of the grape variety.

This wine reveals notes of apricot, yellow peach, lychee, fresh grape, orange blossom, rose, acacia honey, lemon zest and ginger. The straw colour with greenish glints precedes a nose of great finesse. The attack is fresh and subtle, the sweetness perfectly integrated thanks to lovely acidity, and the finish is long and flavoursome.

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.