A few wine regions are famous for their noble rot sweet wine but I have to say Tokaj is the region that really masters the art of noble rot winemaking. Tokaj makes different styles of wine from botrytis grapes at different stages of development therefore pickings are extremely selective. Any one parcel of vines is picked a few times during the harvest season. Picking is a long process, naturally done by hand and with cautious. At Holdvölgy, a 26ha wine estate, the 2017 harvest began on 30th August and lasted until mid November. I experienced first-hand picking of the botrytis grapes for every style of wine.
Szamorondni is a Polish word meaning ‘as it is’. It is a traditional style of Tokaji wine that is made from grape bunches picked as they are, including both healthy and noble rot berries with various degree of botrytis. It can be dry or sweet. Grape bunches with less noble rot berries are used to make dry Szamorondni, while those with more noble rot berries are used to make the sweet Szamorondni. Holdvölgy made both styles in 2017 and these grapes were picked at different time when winemaker Tamás reckoned the grape bunches were ready for the style of wine he had in mind.
Holdvölgy planted all six permitted grape varieties in Tokaj: the well-known Furmint, Hárslevelü and Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains), as well as the lesser-known Zéta, Kabar and Kövérszölö. They ripen at different time with Zéta being the first and Furmint the last. Picking started at sunrise and viticulturist Károly would tell the team what to pick - healthy bunches of Hárslevelü only with no botrytis berries, Sárgamuskotály bunches with 20% or 50% noble rot, or pick all Furmint except those with more than 80% botrytis bunches. Károly followed the weather forecast closely as it could change the harvest plan. For example, if rain or cloudy weather were forecasted in the next few days, noble rot development would slow and more grey rot could develop. In any case, removal of grey rot berries was absolutely necessary. It is easy to differentiate the bad rot from the good one when there are only two berries but believe me, it is confusing when you have to look for them in a bunch. I had to use all my senses - sight, smell and taste to make sure I did the job properly.
And those were the easy pickings.
The most time consuming was the picking of Aszú berries, the heavily botrytis, raisin-like berries. Berries are picked individually only when they achieve the level of botrytis equivalent to over 500g/l sugar (around 27% potential alcohol). Different grape varieties and bunches/berries develop botrytis at different speed therefore each bunch has to be visited a few times before all the berries are picked - a painstakingly long and slow process. While the picking team was busy selecting the bunches to pick, the three ‘Aszú’ ladies at Holdvölgy would patiently pick the ‘ready’ berries, about 40 kg on average per day (a bunch of grape weighs around 1kg). They would do so every day during the entire harvest season until the last Aszú berries were picked.
Tokaji, the king of wines, is made in a unique way different from other noble rot sweet wine. Sauternes is made the sweet Szamorondni way using a mix of healthy and noble rot grapes; while Beerenauslese (BA) and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) are made only with botrytis affected berries. In both cases, grapes are pressed and only the juice is fermented. Tokaji is made by macerating Aszú berries in fermenting or finished base wine from 10 hours to a few days before they are pressed and continued to ferment. This skin contact method similar to that in red wine making extracts more flavours from the raisin berries. The wine is therefore extremely rich and complex. The sweetness of the wine depends on the amount of Aszú berries added to the base wine, traditionally measured in puttonyos. Tokaji 3 puttonyos has at least 60g/l residual sugar, and Tokaji 6 puttonyos has a minimum of 150g/l residual sugar. The Hungarian grapes have high natural acidity and the dehydration process also concentrates the acidity therefore Tokaji always has an incredible fresh finish no matter how sweet the wine is.
Unfortunately, after World War II during the Communist era, state-owned Tokaj producers flooded the market with inferior sweet wine. The wine, heavily oxidised and often artificially sweetened, was labelled with various puttonyos. According to Gergely Somogyi, editor of tokajtoday.com, the 70s and 80s were the darkest period of Tokaji wine. In the late 1990s after Hungary became a republic, independent wineries re-established in Tokaj with the aim of reviving the industry. In 2014, the Tokaji Trade Council eliminated the 3 and 4 puttonyos categories, and introduced the new quality level, Tokaji Aszú, for the 5 and 6 puttonyos categories. The term puttonyos was therefore officially abolished. For a wine to be named Tokaji Aszú, it must have at least 120g/l residual sugar. Wineries welcomed the change as part of a renaissance for the Tokaj region.
Tokaj was the first wine region to be demarcated in 1737 and the Mád basin has the highest number of Grand Cru sites of mostly volcanic soil. The story of Holdvölgy, translated as moon valley, began with a one-hectare vineyard in the Nyúläszó Grand Cru site in Mád, a birthday present from Pascal Demko’s mother to his father. Pascal, a trained lawyer with a passion for wine, slowly acquired more land and eventually made his first wine in 2006 from 26ha of vineyard in seven Grand Cru sites in Mád. Today, the estate produces two ranges of wine: Holdvölgy with a elegant and classy label, and Hold And Hollo, an eye-catching, stylish label for casual occasions and cool consumers.
Some people compare winemakers to artists but I would say Holdvölgy is more like a designer, which probably comes from Pascal’s professional training.The team creates beautiful wine and communicates it effectively to the customers. Looking from the other way, customers have high expectations after seeing the bottles and they are not let down by the content. Artists can be emotional whereas designers are unambiguous but both achieve perfection in different ways.
Holdvölgy wine is not available in Hong Kong or China yet. I have no doubt both ranges will be well-received by consumers. Hold And Hollo label will be a hit if marketed right. All Pascal needs is a far-sighted partner who shares his vision.