First tasting 29th November 2013
Nicolas Godebski
Nicolas Godebski: “The Confrérie de Tokaj is preparing for Tokaj Spring 2014. Producers responded to our invitation to select their best barrels to be presented at the Tokaj Wine Auction on 26th April 2014 and the first tasting took place on 29th November. The panel responsible for quality assurance consists of: Gabriella Mészáros, Ronn Wiegand, Dániel Ercsey and Nicolas Godebski. The wine experts met to taste some twenty wines some of which, mainly the dry and late harvest wines, were not yet finished wines. Thus another tasting is scheduled for 13th January. The panel noted the high quality of wines presented and thanks the producers for their commitment. They know this will be a difficult choice. We expect between 25 and 30 samples for the next tasting to decide which wines will be accepted and included in the auction catalogue.”
Gabriella Mészáros
Gabriella Mészáros: “Some of the 2013 dry lots already show incredible notes. You can really feel that in contrast to the 2012 vintage the grapes were finally allowed to ripen at their own pace. There were no particular extreme conditions to cope with so the wines can be built upon good acidity. Superb aromas. Many lots fermented in stainless steel have fruit which complements their defined and elegant minerality. The barrel-fermented lots seem as though they are ahead in their bouquet strangely, but both styles are developing well. Similar to many producers, I believe that this vintage will be very similar to the much-loved and elegant 2008 which has good ageing potential. The sweet wines are right at the start of their development but the Botrytis seems of excellent quality. We will be able to give a more informed opinion about these wines after the second tasting.”
Ronn Wiegand
Ronn Wiegand: “At the auction tasting, two-thirds of the wines entered were dry. And these—from 2013—were generally excellent, with intense and distinctive character. The Aszus were also extremely good, but only three were submitted. Perhaps best of all was the 2003 Eszencia, exactly the type of rarity that international buyers would expect at an auction of this type.”
Dániel Ercsey
Dániel Ercsey: “At the first tasting of lots submitted for the Tokaj Wine Auction an over-representation of dry wines was noticeable… The wines tasted were good quality and several of exceedingly high quality. Fortunately producers did not enter any lots that had serious quality problems. Despite all the difficulties of the 2013 vintage, the wines are incredibly exciting. In contrast to recent vintages when the ripening period was faster and spiked with heat shocks, this year the grapes had time to ripen homogenously. That is why I’m looking forward with excitement to see what kind of maturing curve the vintage’s dry wines will take, how they “live their lives”. More precisely whether the wines will generally mature more harmoniously. If they do, then we will remember 2013 in the Tokaj Wine Region as a year of elegant dry wines with long ageing potential. As yet it is too early to make any pronouncements on the sweet wines of this vintage. However, older vintages submitted for the auction tasting show great beauty and are worthy to represent Tokaj in the world.”
The Confrérie has decided to commence Tokaj Spring event in Budapest and to welcome guests arriving from abroad along with residents of Hungary. Contact has been made with the Hungarian rail company MÁV NOZTALGIA to provide a luxury train to take participants to Tokaj. The presentation will take place in the Royal Salon at Nyugati Station in Budapest. During the journey, in addition to a presentation of the Tokaj Wine Region, there will be a wine tasting and lunch served in the two magnificent restaurant cars. On arrival at the station in Tokaj, guests will be met by buses to take them to their hotel and then to the vineyards after which there will be a presentation by the Confrérie committee followed by the initiation dinner.
The Saturday – as has become tradition – will start with the blind tasting in the morning. After the picnic with producers’ wines, auctioneer Nóra Winkler will run the focus of the weekend, the Tokaj Wine Auction which will benefit the landscape of the vinicultural region. The lots will be presented by members of the panel. In the evening, after the presentation of the Council of the Confrérie and a performance by our guest singer initiation ceremony, the Gala Dinner will be held in the Andrássy residence in tarcal.
Sunday is devoted to cellar visits and meeting the producers.
This year our focus country is Poland, the essential player in the fame of Tokaji wines.
