As a result of the extreme draught, the President of the Round Table of Winemakers in Tokaj (Tokaji Borászok Asztaltársasága) – established by eleven small, mainly handcraft wine cellars – is pessimistic about the volume of this year’s aszu (old-style Tokaj wine made of adding dried – botryoidated – grape).
In his assessment of this year’s harvest he told that the weather this year, similar to years 2009 and 2011, was also very hot and dry. By the end of the second week of September grapes reached must (grape juice) degree between 19 and 21. Consequently, almost everybody started the harvest to reach the appropriate acid-sugar ratio required by dry wines.
He added that grape quality has been very good; it reached the level of years 2009 and 2011. In the favorable weather grapes developed relatively high quality, even in case of high-yield vineyards. This means that both groups of producers – one concentrating on quality, another on quantity – enjoyed favorable harvest.
Last year botryoidation was very low; hardly any aszu was produced. The President recalled that last year the volume of botryoidated grapes was so low, that finding and collecting appropriate grapes was uneconomical.
(MTI)
