Wine and Spirits
- Részletek
- Közzétéve: 2014. január 16. csütörtök, 09:54
The following text is from the Wine & Spirits Buying Guide 2014. István Szepsy was honored as a Top 100 Winery of the year. The writer of the summary of the winery and the wine descriptions is Tara Q. Thomas.
Founded: 1987
Owner/winemaker/viticulturist: István Szepsy
Acres owned: 180
Annual production: 4000 cases
Estate grown: 100%
Known for: Powerful, dry Tokaji wines
Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, NY
Website: szepsy.hu
Tokaji Myths | by Tara Q. Thomas
- Részletek
- Közzétéve: 2013. június 14. péntek, 14:07
The reemergence of Tokaji has often been presented as a resurrection, pulling a cultural icon out of the rubble left after decades of Communism and setting about to make it glorious once again. The effort sparked hot debates as to what was and what should be the definition of Tokaji, the wine, but there were several points of general agreement: It was sweet, botrytized and based on furmint, its value measured in puttonyos.
Now, two decades later, that’s completely changed. Driven by a new generation of winemakers, the goal is not so much a resurrection as a redefinition, a range of styles asserting the region’s varied terroir. This might mean showcasing furmint in a sparkling form, or in a bottling as dry as stone. It could mean arvesting before the grapes are shriveled, bottling the clear, honey-sweet juice as a late-harvest wine, or aging a botrytized wine under flor, as in Jerez. A contemporary Tokaji might even bypass furmint for more obscure varieties: It might be solely hárslevelü, or sárgamuskotály or another local grape.
I found all of those variations last spring, on a visit to a region where the historical myths are unraveling in any number of creative directions.
A Tokaj Grand Cru; István Szepsy’s Úrágya
- Részletek
- Közzétéve: 2013. június 15. szombat, 11:52
Not all wine regions benefit from it – or should even consider it. Single vineyard wines that is. Bourgogne? Yes. Douro? Not sure. Mosel? Yes. Chianti? Maybe. Bordeaux? In rare cases. Tokaj? Yes!
I’m not presenting a remarkable statement in any way. It’s old news. Oldest news in the world actually if we’re sticking to Tokaj. This is the very first regional appellation and vineyard classification in the world going back to 1700 and in the 1730′s the site classification started.
Why was Tokaj first? The answer is probably logical. At the time of the classification, the region were already producing Aszú wines, grapes affected by the noble rot Botrytis Cinerea. This was the stuff to drink back then, if you were someone or wanted to be the cool guy. If you could demand a high price for your wine, you of course wanted to increase the production and make more money. However, you couldn’t expect the noble rot to show up every vintage and thus it was essential to understand and calculate where the potential for Botrytis was highest.
Forrás: winevirtuosity.com