Royal Tokaji - Late Harvest 2018 (500ml)

Tokaji is the world's original sweet white wine. This classic late harvest wine from Hungary is an off-dry style wine comprised of primarily Furmint with Hárslevelu and Muscat.

Pale gold colour with delicate citrus and spicy aromas. Light and refreshing on the palate with hints of white peach and honey. It has an excellent acid balance, a smooth, silky texture and a clean, long, crisp finish.

Shortly after the start of the new millennium, the genuine shortage of asz (botrytis) harvests and the limited volumes even in those vintages led us to explore other opportunities. We researched ways of producing more accessible, but equally vibrant, wines of around 100 g/L (equivalent to a 4 puttonyos sweetness). Late Harvest relies on partial bunch selection, which naturally includes ripe, overripe and botrytised berries. This combination of different ripening stages of the berries inside the bunch gives a distinctive Tokaji character but does not require the long ageing of asz wines. The harvested clusters are then pressed and the rich must fermented in the same manner as the dry wines, maintaining a balance of sugar and natural acidity. The Late Harvest matures in Hungarian Zemplen oak barrels. As with all Royal Tokaji wines, quality, house style and balance is the focus. Ben Howkins on Royal Tokaji Late Harvest.

The first Tokaji aszú wine was created in the 1600s perhaps by accident — a harvest delayed by threat of enemy invasion. In 1700, Tokaj became the first European region to have its vineyards classified — its uniquely varied terroirs and climates rated “primae classis, secundae classis, tertius classis,” or “first growth, second growth, third growth,” by Prince Rakoczi II of Transylvania. This classification system is still used in Hungary today.

Quality production ended with the Communist Party takeover of Hungarian winemaking. Aszú grapes were used for mass production in factories, with vineyard distinctions lost in giant tanks. Tokaj’s renaissance began after the collapse of communism with the establishment of Royal Tokaji in 1990 by well-known author Hugh Johnson and a small group of investors, who were inspired to restore and preserve Hungary’s precious wine legacy.

his amber-colored late-harvest wine from Tokaj has aromas of honeycomb and white flowers, especially jasmine and freesia. In the mouth, it has nice fruit sweetness and flavors of clover honey, ripe apricot and yellow peach. Jeff Jenssen, 4/1/2022.