Tokaj (Slovakia)

The Tokajsky wine is from the Slovakian wine region of Tokaj, a wine region in Slovakia which comprises 7 communities and 998 hectares of vineyards.cite web|url=http://www.sacr.sk/article?id=122&category=7&lang=en |title=Tokaj Wine Road |accessdate=2008-02-17 ] according to the Slovak designation. The official name of the region in Slovak is "vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj".

Tokajský Wines

The Slovak Tokaji wines, made exclusively from Furmint, Lipovina and Yellow Muscat (Slovak: "Muškát žltý") grapes, are:

* "Tokajský Furmint"
* "Tokajská Lipovina"
* "Tokajský Muškát žltý" (Yellow Muscat)

*"Tokajské samorodné suché" (derived from a Slovak word meaning "the way it was grown"): Samorodné wine is set apart from ordinary wine in that it is made from bunches which contain a considerable proportion of botrytised grapes. Because of this, Samorodné is typically higher in extract than ordinary wine.
*"Tokajské samorodné sladké" (means "sweet")is set apart from ordinary wine in that it is made from bunches which contain a bigger proportion of botrytised grapes.
*"Tokajský výber" (in Hungarian: "aszú"): This is the wine which made Tokaj world famous. It is a sweet dessert wine made by individually picking botrytised grapes and trampling them in huge vats to form a paste. Must is then poured on the paste and left to soak before the wine is transferred to wooden casks where fermentation in completed. The wines are graded from 2 to 6 "putňa", representing the level of sugar and sugar-free extract in the mature wine.

* "Tokajská výberová esencia" (the Hungarian version is called "aszú-eszencia")
* "Tokajská esencia-nektár" (meaning "essence-nectar")
* "Tokajský mášláš" (the Hungarian version is called "máslás")
* "Tokajský fordítáš" (the Hungarian version is called "fordítás")

Characteristics of the Wine Region

Some of the characteristics which make the Tokaj wine region unique are:

*Soil and microclimate: The Tokaj terrain consists of clay or loess soil on volcanic subsoil. The microclimate is determined by the sunny, south-facing slopes and the proximity of the Tisza and Bodrog rivers, and is conducive to the proliferation of Botrytis Cinerea (noble rot) and the subsequent desiccation of the grapes.
*Indigenous grape varieties: Furmint and Lipovina have been cultivated in the region for centuries and, together with Yellow Muscat, are the only grape varieties officially permitted for use in the region.
*Cellars: A vast system of cellars has been carved out of solid rock. They provide a constant temperature of around 12 °C and high humidity of around 95%, which are ideal for the aging of Tokaji wines.
*Appellation system: A royal decree in 1757 established a closed production district in Tokaj, the world's first system of wine appellation. Vineyard classification began in 1730 and was completed by the national censuses of 1765 and 1772.

Histoty of the Wine Region

A part of the Slovak wine region of Tokaj was once part of the historic Tokaj wine region of the Kingdom of Hungary. Due to the Treaty of Trianon the majority of the region (around 28 communities and some 4,500 hectares of vineyards) remained part of Hungary and a smaller part (3 communities and about 175 hectares of vineyards) became part of Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia). In 1959 four more villages were added by Czechoslovak legislation.The dispute between the countries over the right of Slovakia to use the name Tokaj that started in 1958 for its wines was resolved in 2004 - the two countries came to an agreement in June 2004 under which wine produced on 565 hectares of land in Slovakia will be able to use the "Tokajský/-á/-é" label ("of Tokaj" in Slovak)cite web|title=A névért perelnék az uniót a tokaji gazdák|language=Hungarian|url=http://nol.hu/cikk/502160/|work=Népszabadság|date=2008-08-02|accessdate=2008-09-21] , providing that the Slovaks accept the Hungarian quality control regulations. With the accession of both Hungary and Slovakia to the European Union, the Tokaj name (including other forms of spelling) was given Protected Designation of Origin status. In future (since 2007), only authorised wine producers from the Hungarian Tokaj region will use the Tokaj brand name, while Slovakia use for the wines produced in the Slovak region the Tokajský/-á/-é label.

The villages of the Tokaj wine region in Slovakia are Bara, Čerhov, Černochov, Malá Tŕňa, Slovenské Nové Mesto, Veľká Tŕňa, and Viničky.Wine makers of these communities produce similar wines to those of the Hungarian wine region, across the border (although Hungarian winemakers maintain that the Slovak wines are usually produced using different techniques). Since 2005, the same regulations apply in Slovakia as in Hungary, but there are concerns regarding the quality of wines made in the Slovak region.

References

ee also

*Tokaj-Hegyalja (wine region in Hungary)
*Tokaji Wines