Sweet Treat

Tokaji Aszu is the only wine, other than Champagne, that must go through a second fermentation to end up in its final, one-of-a-kind state. A dry table wine made up of a fermented cuvée of local white, indigenous Hungarian grapes of Harslevelu, Furmint, and Yellow Muscat, is the starting point. Then, a second fermentation is created by adding the desired number of puttonyos, (a measure of shriveled aszu grapes affected by the friendly botrytis cinerea fungus), to neutral wooden casks called gönci, containing the base wine. The more puttonyos, the sweeter the resulting wine. This wine has five. The second fermentation is aided by the friendly cellar born fungus, cladosporum cellerae, which covers the labyrinth of cellar walls, deep below ground level. It’s a miracle of nature, too, unique to Hungary’s Tokaji region, where, at the confluence of the Tisza and Bodrog Rivers, fall mists promote the formation of noble rot on the grapes. The casks act as wooden wombs, so to speak. The indigenous fungus does the job with its particular yeasts and bacteria working to assist in giving birth to the unctuous dessert wine the world has come to appreciate and love. This can take anywhere between eleven months to two years. By law, the finished Tokaji wine must age at least two years in the cask and one year in the bottle before being released for sale. It can only be produced in exceptional years such as 2017 as is the case here. It is a beautiful wine to sip on its own, with the appropriate background music, especially when in a contemplative mood. Think rhapsody rather than rap. A great partner to fois gras, but we think the perfect match made in heaven, or in the cheese shop, is blue-veined cheese. Then again, it’s the ideal dessert in liquid form. It’s the perfect gift for the real wine afficionado in your family this holiday season. Can be laid down for 10 years, even longer. Wine Spectator magazine awarded it 93 points.

2017 Royal Tokaji Red Label 5 Puttonyos Tokaji Aszu LCBO # 959031, $69.95