Oremus Aszu 5 puttonyos 2018

This cuvée comes from the historic Tokaj-Hegyalja vineyard, in north-east Hungary, within the protected Tokaj area listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Oremus estate is based in Tolcsva, amid hills shaped by volcanic, clay and mineral-rich soils. The proximity of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers encourages the autumn mists essential for noble rot to develop on the berries. The plots, planted on well-exposed slopes, enjoy a continental climate with long autumns, ideal for slow, concentrated ripening of the grapes destined for Aszú wines.

The botrytised aszú berries are picked by hand, berry by berry, then macerated for 12 to 48 hours in fermenting must or wine. After pressing, the wine ferments in new Hungarian oak barrels, followed by two to three years of ageing in small 136-litre barrels in the underground cellars, completed by bottle ageing.

This wine reveals notes of candied apricot, ripe quince and orange zest, enriched by hints of honey, acacia blossom and ginger. Touches of fruit jellies, saffron and wet stone extend this complex bouquet. On the palate, the texture is unctuous and concentrated, carried by lively acidity that balances the sweetness. The broad texture retains remarkable tension, while the long, fresh finish stretches out on impressions of candied fruit and delicate spices.

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, then united with Austria, exported its most famous wine throughout Europe: Tokaj (made from the Furmint grape). As everywhere in Europe, viticulture was devastated by phylloxera in the 19th century. During the communist era, vineyards were run as cooperatives, which guaranteed winegrowers a stable income. Quite a few small growers could not keep pace with this expanding economy, and so the Hungarian vineyard was restructured, losing 30% of its area in the process. Today many family estates have made their name, some of them producing wines of incredible quality. As everywhere in Europe, viticulture is in decline under the European restructuring plan for the wine industry. Hungary, which lies on 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. Furmint and hárslevelű from the Tokaj region, vinified dry and the source of the great sweet wines of Tokaj, are undoubtedly the best-known varieties today. The most widely planted grape is olaszrizling for whites and kékfrankos for reds. International varieties, mainly the Bordeaux grapes, flourish especially in the south of the country, where they produce wines of great class.