Hungarian Tokaji
- Thread starter Peter Creasey
- Start date
That was bottled during the Warsaw Pact era for Hungary, so it was a government export. Since all comrades are considered equal, what would be the point of putting a producer's name on it, eh Tovarisch? Don't expect too much from it, Pete. I've been told that quality was pretty mediocre in that era.
Mark Lipton
Mark Lipton
Peter Creasey
Peter Creasey
Mark, thanks for the info.
The reviews I have seen have all been excellent so I was counting on a good showing. Maybe I should reconsider.
. . . . . . Pete
Christian Miller (CMM)
Christian Miller
As it happens, I have 1/2 a 500ml bottle of Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos left in the fridge, opened a couple of months ago. The producer/exporter labeling is inscrutable to me, but it's not Monimpex. 1990 is a curious period wine-wise, as was presumably an anarchic time just after the fall of the Communist government but before the infusion of capital from the west into Hungarian viticulture. I'd guess it was probably made at some big old style co-op, because you can't overhaul winery ownership, grape acquisition and production techniques in that short a time. But maybe some farmers switched to own-production quickly.
Anyway, the wine was over-the-hill but still drinkable - oxidized raisin-pruney fruit, maybe with a bit of orange peel in the nose; med-full bodied, sweet, low acid and unctuous on the palate with a flavor somewhere between sweet Madeira and PX sherry. It hasn't changed a lot sitting in the fridge. Too cloying and tired by itself but I'm thinking it could be tasty in some kind of cake or pudding.
While we are in that neighborhood, has anyone had authentic Essencia, and if so what was it like?
Anyway, the wine was over-the-hill but still drinkable - oxidized raisin-pruney fruit, maybe with a bit of orange peel in the nose; med-full bodied, sweet, low acid and unctuous on the palate with a flavor somewhere between sweet Madeira and PX sherry. It hasn't changed a lot sitting in the fridge. Too cloying and tired by itself but I'm thinking it could be tasty in some kind of cake or pudding.
While we are in that neighborhood, has anyone had authentic Essencia, and if so what was it like?
Peter Creasey
Peter Creasey
Christian, it appears you are talking about the 1990. Can it be assumed the 1973 might show the same shortcomings?
Thanks.
. . . . . Pete
Thanks.
. . . . . Pete
Robert Vodicka
Robert Vodicka
Did Orban make Tokaji great again?
Pavel Tchichikov
Pavel Tchichikov
He has.
Christian Miller (CMM)
Christian Miller
Frankly I don't know. Given:
--the wine is very old, by the standards of nearly any wine.
--most wines back then received considerably more oxygen exposure in vinification, aging and bottling than they do now. Some red wines of the era could offset this somewhat with low pH, high acid and tannin, but that doesn't apply here. And as old Sauternes sometimes show, very sweet wines can sometimes defy time similarly.
--1973 isn't associated with high quality consumer products in the eastern bloc.
--but 1973 was a highly regarded vintage in Austria, don't know about Hungary.
--Essencia had a reputation for being nearly immortal, even back when vinification and enology were very primitive. OTOH, this isn't Essencia, more like a second cousin.
So it's possible you have something special in the 1973, but seems like the odds are against it IMHO.