Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2003

The Château de Sárospatak is a late-Renaissance architectural monument in Hungary and bears the name of its town. It is part of Hungary's national heritage. The Tokaji bearing its name are produced only in the best years in order to create exceptional cuvées. They come from the Sarospatak and Tolcsva wine-growing areas and the south of the appellation, and are today acclaimed by leading sommeliers. Rich in sugar, aromas and acidity, the so-called "Aszú" berries (meaning “dried” in Hungarian) come from grapes that have shrivelled on the vine or been affected by noble rot. The aszú berries are harvested berry by berry in successive pickings, which represents a colossal amount of work in the vineyards. These berries are then added to a base white wine and macerate for several days until the wine is imbued with their extraordinary flavours.

As everywhere in Europe, 2003 saw high summer temperatures, which brought the grapes to very early ripeness. This Tokaji 6 Puttonyos is a blend of 2 Hungarian grape varieties: Furmint and Zeta. The quality is there, but the quantity remains small. The quality of the botrytis and of the raisining is that of the great years. This blend has produced a fine, complex sweet wine that combines acidity, power and delicacy. Sixteen years after its harvest, this Château Sarospatak 6 puttonyos 2003 has reached its phase of maturity, which will last a good twenty years or so. It shows a brilliant colour with orange glints and an intense nose, with aromas of dried fruit and fig, all with dizzying complexity. It is concentrated, powerful and unctuous on the palate, with long aromatic persistence in which dried apricot, toasted almond, honey, date, saffron, turmeric, cinnamon and citrus peel can be discerned. A great bottle from a rare vintage...

It was the Romans who planted the first vines at a time when the Country was part of a region called Pannonia. It was at the dawn of the 18th century that Hungary, united with Austria, ensured the export of its most famous wine throughout Europe: Tokaj (from the Fürmint grape variety). As throughout Europe, in the 19th century, viticulture was destroyed by phylloxera. During the communist period, vineyards were managed in cooperatives which guaranteed a stable income for wine producers. Quite a few small winegrowers were unable to keep up with this growing economy, so the Hungarian vineyard was restructured, losing 30% of its surface area in the process. Nowadays, many family estates have emerged, some of which produce wines of incredible quality. As everywhere in Europe, viticulture is in decline as part of the European restructuring plan for the wine industry. Hungary, which is at the same latitude as Burgundy, has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. The rainfall is sufficient for non-irrigated viticulture and the soils are heterogeneous and of high quality depending on the region. With around a hundred indigenous and international grape varieties, the country has good varietal diversity. The fürmint and the hárslevelü from the Tokaj region, vinified dry and at the origin of the great sweet wines of Tokaj, are undoubtedly the best-known varieties today. The most widely planted grape variety is Olasrizling for whites and Kéfrankos for reds. International grape varieties, mainly Bordeaux grape varieties, flourish in particular in the south of the country where they produce high-class wines.