2017 Royal Tokaji Gold Label 6 Puttonyos Aszu 500ml

The production of the Aszú wine (wine of tears) is a meticulous process, which requires great patience and extensive know-how. It is only possible in good vintages, when nature brings rain at the end of the summer and sun and wind in early autumn, which are the essential conditions for the process for noble berries to from. The berries swollen due to the humidity split and the "Botrytis cinérea" establishes in its skin and creates the noble rot. The same formulas are used to make the wines as have been used for hundreds of years. To the must in a Gönc barrel, that is 136-litres, 3, 5 or 6 23-kg panniers ("puttony" in Hungarian) of Aszú noble berries. The Aszú noble berries are macerated with the must and we then wait for one day or two for the berries to swell and they are then pressed. The fermentation of the Aszú must is a slow process that can sometimes last up to two months. It is then put into wood barrels and is left in a protected wine press, waiting for the fermentation to stop by itself. We then add a little Eszencia, which has been collected drop by drop from the Aszú berries. We thus symbolically return its soul, which is embodied in the Eszencia. The Aszú wines are aged in 136-litre (called ‘Gönc’) and 220-litre ("Szerednye") small barrels. Oak from the mountains that border the winemaking region is used to manufacture the barrels. The Aszú ageing takes place in underground wineries dug out in the volcanic soil. The wine is left to age here for 2 to 3 years, at a constant temperature and degree of humidity. After being bottled, the Aszú is left to continue ageing in the bottle for a year, which is the opportunity for it to embark on a journey of development that can even last several decades. Varieties: Furmint, Hárslevelü, Zéta and Sárgamuskotály