Volcanic loess and rhyolite tuff at the meeting of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers, whose autumn mists ripen botrytis on Furmint and Hárslevelű.
Style
Tokaji Aszú — graded historically by 'puttonyos' — is honeyed, marmalade-and-saffron sweet, kept electric by Furmint's searing acidity; Eszencia is the rarest, most concentrated of all.
Top sites
Classified 'first-growth' crus (Szt Tamás, Betsek, Király) at Mád and Tarcal rank among the world's great sweet-wine sites.
Vintages
2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
Producers
Royal TokajiDisznókőOremusIstván Szepsy
Tip · Tokaj was classified in 1730 — decades before Bordeaux's 1855.
Value pick
Royal Tokaji 'Late Harvest' · ~$25 (500ml)
Honeyed, citrussy, fresh — the gateway to Tokaji.
Collector pick
Royal Tokaji Aszú '5 Puttonyos' (Red Label)
Dry Furmint
Modern volcanic whites
Soil
The same first-growth volcanic crus, now also vinified bone-dry — a movement that has remade Tokaj's reputation.
Style
Bone-dry Furmint of citrus, quince, smoke and saline minerality, with Chablis-like cut and real ageing potential.
Top sites
Single-cru dry Furmint (e.g. Szepsy's Úrágya) shows the region as a great dry-white terroir.
Vintages
2017, 2019, 2021, 2022
Producers
István SzepsyBartaRoyal Tokaji
Tip · Don't assume Tokaj means sweet — its dry Furmints are world-class.
Value pick
Royal Tokaji 'The Oddity' Dry Furmint · ~$22
Smoky, citrussy, mineral dry Furmint — a brilliant introduction.
