Last weekend I visited Sárospatak, a pretty town in Tokaj region, Hungary. I went there with 3 pupils for a physics competition. While the kids were preparing their projects, the teachers had an "extra school" activity: a visit to a wine cellar.I was really enthusiastic about this visit, as I always wanted to see a real wine cellar. As I descended into the cellar, there were lots of butts of different sizes along the pathway.
The Tokaj-Hegyalja region has a volcanic soil and the cellars are dug in the volcanic rock, too. This special micro-climate makes the wines of this region so special:In the cellar
The cellar I visited is relatively new, but the walls were already covered by "noble mould", which has formed due to the dew that rises from the wine butts.Noble mould on the walls
Tokaj - Hegyalja wine region is a well know wine region in Hungary, with the famous Tokaji Aszú, a sort of sweet white dessert wine, made of dried grapes.
According to the story, in 1630, during a Turkish raid, the people vintage in mid November, with a delay of several weeks. The grapes had shrivelled and become dry by then. They produced an unequalled wine from this vintage. This was the first dessert wine produced by adding dried grapes.
Here is the technology of the Tokaji Aszú wine. (aszú = shrivelled)
During the making of Aszú the dried grapes are separated from the whole berries, are collected in vats and processed into a paste resembling dough. From this so-called Aszú paste they add as many times 25 kilograms to 136 litres of fermenting must (=grape juice) as the number of butts they want the Aszú wine to be. (The vintage butts used at the time, in which they put the Aszú grapes, could hold 25 kg, and the traditional wooden cask for fermenting Aszú held 136 litres.) Only 3,4,5, and 6-butt Aszú wine is produced in Tokaj according to the tradition of several centuries.After fermentation the Aszú grapes are removed from the new wine by a process of careful pressing and the wine is aged for at least 3 years in a wooden casks.
The different butts of Aszú also mean the distinction 
according to remaining sugar content: the 3-butt Aszú contains 60–90 g/l, the 4-butt Aszú 90–120 g/l, the 5-butt Aszú 120–150 g/l, and the 6-butt Aszú 150–180 g/l of leftover sugar.
according to remaining sugar content: the 3-butt Aszú contains 60–90 g/l, the 4-butt Aszú 90–120 g/l, the 5-butt Aszú 120–150 g/l, and the 6-butt Aszú 150–180 g/l of leftover sugar.A 6-butt Tokaji Aszú with honey-like colour
We were served with 6 different sort of wines:
furmint, a dry fresh white wine,
hárslevelű ("linden-leaf") 2005, medium sweet white wine,
hárslevelű 2006 - late vintage, medium sweet white wine,
szamorodni, an other speciality of the region: the regular berries and dried raisins are processed together as they ripen. Depending on the sugar content of the must – and the amount of Aszú raisins – the wine will be dry or sweet after fermentation.
aszú 3-butt,
aszú 6-butt.
My favourite was the hárslevelű - late vintage, as it has a mild, fruity taste.Hárslevelű - late vintage 2006
For more about Tokaji wines, see the link: http://www.kfki.hu/~rw2003/bor.html
Visit the cellar we spent a wondeful evening: http://www.evinor.hu/
