Disznókő Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos 2014 (500ml)

The uniqueness of Tokaji Aszú (botrytis) wines is not only due to their terroir and the indigenous Hungarian grapes used in the blend (primarily Furmint but also Hárslevelű, Muscat Blanc, Zéta and Kövérszőlő), but also the ancient method still generally used to make the wine. The Aszú (botrytised) berries are picked separately and added in various proportions (puttonyos) to a non-botrytised must or base wine during or after fermentation. The Aszú berries, being dry and shrivelled, have little or no juice, so this technique allows them to swell and enables effective pressing. After fermenting at snail’s pace, the wines mature for at least two years in Sauternes barrels from Château Suduiraut.

The proportion of Aszú grapes was historically measured in puttonyos. A puttony is a basket for carrying grapes, so a five puttonyos wine, for example, meant that a wine had five hods of Aszú paste added to the base wine. Today, the wines are classified by their residual sugar rather than the number of baskets added. The puttonyos can still be listed on the label, but only 5 Puttonyos (120 g/L minimum) and 6 Puttonyos (at least 150 g/L) can be labelled as Aszú wines.