Video: Hungary’s ‘Rotten Wine Of Royalty’

  • 28 Jun 2018 9:06 AM
Video: Hungary’s ‘Rotten Wine Of Royalty’
In the world of sweet wines, Hungary’s Tokaji reigns supreme. King Louis XIV even dubbed it, “king of wines.”

But what separates this regal liquid from the rest? Winemaker István Szepsy credits the layers of volcanic rock under the furmint grape vines for the wine’s balanced, minerally mouthfeel. And he would know.

Szepsy’s family has been making sweet wines in the Tokaji region for 500 years.

Amazingly, the process for creating the ethereal Tokaji wine remains pretty much unchanged since then.

You take furmint grapes, allow the botrytis fungus (aka “noble rot”) to surround the clusters, pick each berry one-by-one, ferment the gently-pressed juice in oak barrels and … voila: The wine of kings.

  • How does this content make you feel?

Explore More Reports

  • Balaton Wine & Gourmet Fest is Back

    Balaton Wine & Gourmet Fest is Back

    • 18 Sep 2023 5:12 AM

    For four days this week, between 21-24 September, the Balaton Wine & Gourmet gastronomic festival is being staged at the atmospheric setting of a Jesuit cloister and ruined gardens on the leafy outskirts of Veszprém.