In Argentina, Bodegas Deumayen imports and distributes the Zombory Pince Aszú 6 Puttony 2003 wine from Hungary. The Bodegas Zombory Pince vineyards are situated on the volcanic hillsides of Tokaj Hegyalja, the famous wine region which produces world famous sweet wines. Only 4,000 hectares of this site are allowed to be cultivated for wine production. This region was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2002.
The Aszú 6 Puttony 2003 received a Gold Medal in the 2009 Grand Annual Competition of the Tokaj – Bodrogkeresztúr region. This wine was kept in the winery’s cellar, in Mád, the heart of the Tokaj region, at a depth of 6 meters and at a constant temperature of 11° C, for 32 months in oak casks from the Tokaj Hegyalja forests. After bottling the wines were cellared for a further 20 months.
The Tokaj wine region, in the north of Hungary, is steeped in years of tradition. It is said that Louis XIV, the famous “Sun King”, referred to Tokaj wines as the “Wine of Kings and King of Wines”. Even the Hungarian National Anthem glorifies the region when its words say “Tokaj has distilled the grapevine in its purest essence”.
The first documents that refer to Aszú go back to the XVI Century. In 1660 the wine making regulations were established and have changed very little since then.
No wine region in the world concentrates so much in so few hectares. The wines have such a richness and variety of flavours and aromas. There is a range of styles from the dry Furmint; the delicate and aromatic Hárslevelü; the strong sherry style personality of the Forditás; the Szamorodni, lineage wines in both varieties, dry and sweet; and finally the grand elixir called Eszencia.
Four kinds of grapevine cover the hillsides of the region, Furmint, an indigenous Hungarian vine, occupies 60%; Hárslevelü (Linden leaf) also indigenous to Hungary, occupies 25% of the vineyards, and two smaller varieties, the Muscatel and the Zeta, occupy the rest of the hillsides. Only white vines are allowed to be planted in the region.
Terroir and Vinification
The vineyards where the Aszú is grown are located on the sunny volcanic Tokaj-Hegyalja hillsides, where the autumns are dry and long. In this region the misty mountains, the dewy mornings and the luminous afternoons, generate the ideal conditions for botrytis cinerea to slowly cover the mature grapes, sugar-filled grapes , causing dehydration and shrivel on the clusters, and concentrating the sugar in the berries. The action of the fungus or “noble rot” gives the Aszú its special bouquet which distinguishes it from the ‘late harvest’ or ‘icewine’, which are not “botrytized wines”.
Harvested towards the end of October or beginning of November, the Aszú grapes, are stored in containers in which they are soaked in base wine made from normal grapes not affected by the botrytis. The grapes are left to macerate for 48 hours before being pressed and vinified using the traditional oxidizing method characteristic of Tokaj since the XVII century. The fermentation is completed and the wine is then aged for 32 months in oak casks kept in underground caverns under the hills. The wines are kept here for a minimum of 12 months in 500cl bottles.
Wine Tasting Notes
The Zombory Pince Aszú 6 Puttony 2003 is a rich wine, with deep, concentrated aromas of honey, almonds and wild flowers, balanced by a pleasant acidity of citrus and apricots. The Aszú combines well with foie gras, mature cheese and 70% cocoa chocolate. It is a wine for meditation, perhaps best combined with a good Cuban cigar and good company.
Technical notes:
Proprietor: The Zombory family
Winery: Zombory Pince KFT
Wine maker: Tomás Zombory / Ferenc Bartus
Viticulturalist: Engineer Gergö Kiss
Appellation: Tokaj
Style: Sweet white, botrytised
Varietal: 70% Furmint / 30% Hárslevelü
Vintage: 2003
Yield per hectare: 2,300 kg
Harvest method: By hand
Harvest: the last week in October
Vineyards: Hillsides of Istenhegy and Padi
Bottles produced: 2, 400 bottles of 50cl
Filtration: coarse
Casks: Hungarian oak from the Zemplén forests
Barrel maturation: 32 months
Time in bottles: minimum of 12 months
Alcohol: 11.20 % vol.
Acidez: 8.17 g/l tartaric acid
pH: 3.1
Residual sugar:168,30 g/l