Tokaj Wine Region

The Tokaj region in north-east Hungary is the historic home of Tokaji Aszu, the luscious sweet golden wine made from grapes shrivelled by noble rot, so prized that it was once called the wine of kings and the king of wines. A UNESCO cultural landscape of volcanic vineyards and deep mould-lined cellars, it is Hungary's most celebrated wine country.

History

Records show vineyards in Tokaj by the 12th century, though some experts think local Celts may have grown vines here as early as the 3rd century BC, and a petrified grape leaf found at Erdőbénye dates from the late 3rd century AD; the Hungarians who arrived from the end of the 9th century brought wine-making traditions of their own. After the Tatar invasion of 1241 laid the vineyards waste, Kings Béla III and Béla IV invited Latin settlers, probably Walloons or Italians, and under Ottoman rule from the 16th century many of Tokaj's cellars were dug as hiding places for people and goods. Tokaji aszú is counted the world's oldest botrytised wine, the region was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002 as the Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape, and since the Treaty of Trianon a smaller part of it has belonged to Slovakia (Wikipedia, Tokaj wine region).

What to look for

• Tokaji Aszu - the famous sweet golden dessert wine.
• The volcanic vineyards - the slopes that give the wine its character.
• The historic cellars - the deep, mould-lined cellars where the wine ages.
• The wine villages - Tokaj and the surrounding cellar villages.

When to go

September and October for the harvest, including the late picking of the shrivelled grapes; spring and summer for the vineyards and tastings. The cellar tastings are a year-round pleasure.

Practical notes

It is a region of scattered wineries and cellars rather than a single sight, so a car and a plan help. It is a fair way from Budapest, in the north-east. The sweet Aszu is the star, though the region makes dry wines too.

Nearby

The Aggtelek caves are to the west; the Great Plain and Debrecen lie to the south.