Royal Tokaji Blue Label 5 Puttonyos Aszu 50cl

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In the Traveller science fiction role-playing game Tokaj Escenzia (aka Tokaji Essencia) is considered such a fine wine that the entirety of Earth's production of it is reserved for the sole use of the Emperor of the interstellar Third Imperium. A famous event aboard an Azhanti High Lightning class cruiser involved an attempt to steal the Emperor's wine shipment. The intensely sweet juice gradually oozes from piles of Aszú berries and is added to small oak “gonci” casks filled with base wine of the previous year. This mixture is repeatedly stirred for two or more days to extract the maximum flavour and sugar from the Aszú paste and then left to ferment gently in Royal Tokaji’s deep, dark, damp underground cellars, a transformation which may take one or two years.Legally Tokaji Aszú wines must be aged for a minimum of three years, but Royal Tokaji prefer to set their own higher standards. The Slovak wine region of Tokaj may use the Tokajský/-á/-é label ("of Tokaj" in Slovak) [2] if they apply the Hungarian quality control regulation. [2] This area used to be part of the greater Tokaj-Hegyalja region within the Kingdom of Hungary, but was divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Trianon. In Tokaj the harvest is a long, labor-intensive process that begins at the end of August and usually ends in November (though harvesting aszú berries into January isn’t unheard of). There are essentially three types of harvests in Tokaj: the dry wine harvests, the aszú harvest, and the szamorodni harvest.

Fine Tokaji wines became almost extinct when Hungary fell under Communist rule after the 1939-1945 war when quantity replaced quality. Their renaissance was triggered by the crumbling of Communism and the founding of The Royal Tokaji Wine Company in 1989, a joint-venture between local wine growers in the village of Mád and an inspired group of international investors. Often referred to as the ‘Wine of Kings, King of Wines’, Royal Tokaji is becoming increasingly popular across the UK restaurant scene. As a supporter of the Gold Service Scholarship, the Hungarian winemaker recently hosted to a study trip for 2018 finalists and Trustees. We spoke with Charlie Mount, managing director of Royal Tokaji, to hear his thoughts on how the service sector is developing. Royal Tokaji was one of the first private companies founded after the fall of communism in Hungary. Under communist rule all wine production was controlled by the state and quality was sacrificed so that as much wine as possible could be made.Before adding to the Aszú berries the must starts to ferment in stainless steel tanks until it reaches 4 – 6% alcohol. The Aszú berries are left in containers for a period of time before pressing. A tiny quantity (perhaps 2-3 litre per 100kgs of free run juice is collected). This free run juice is the Essencia or essence.

Sniffing the aromatic essence of Tokaji, as well as its sympathetic effect upon being imbibed, serves as an important and amusing plot device in the 1936 novel My Talks with Dean Spanley, by Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany. The 2008 film adaptation of the novel, Dean Spanley also features this device.A bottle of Tokaji Aszú 4 Puttonyos, vintage 1990, in a 500 mL bottle of the style that is typical for Tokaji wine. The capsule label with the colours of the Hungarian flag is also characteristic.