Buying and enjoying Aszú
Aszú is a sweet wine produced in Central Europe primarily in North Eastern Hungary and Southern Slovakia. It obtains its sweetness as a consequence of a beneficial fungus which causes the skins to split and water to evaporate. This process concentrates the sugars, acids and flavours creating a full bodied, rich, and complex wine with high sugar and acid levels. Wines are characterised by dried fruit, apricot, orange marmalade, honey, ginger and beeswax aromas and flavours. It is thought that the best examples can comfortably age well over 100 years.
Aszú is a white wine made only from white grape varieties. Due to the fungus required to produce an Aszú wine, all of the grape varieties are ones which are suseptible to this fungus. They are also varieties which accumulate good levels of sugar, while also retaining sufficient acidity to provide balance. Over centuries, growers discovered that these grapes complement each other in a way that’s particularly suited to noble rot and long-lived sweet wines. The remarkable thing about Tokaj is that its signature style isn’t based on a single grape, although there are single varietal bottles.
An availability problem
As we discovered in the previous article, Aszú is not always made in quantity in every vintage. Even in good years the yields are incredibly low. All of this means there are only between 500,000 and 1.5 million bottles made per year. And of that, quite a significant proportion remains in Hungary. This can mean that the variety of bottles available is extremely limited outside of central Europe. It is also the case that only a small number of Hungarian wineries have the scale and infrastructure to manage volume exports, so there are often limited choices in terms of trying wines from different houses.
Storing Aszú
Like all wines, Aszú requires careful storage to maintain its quality. There are some key considerations which need to be made when storing a bottle.
- The Temperature – Ideally Aszú should be stored at a constant temperature of 10-14ºC to preserve it as long as possible. However, shortly before serving, depending on the storage temperature it should be chilled to a lower temperature (see section below on serving temperatures).
- Humidity – Just as important as temperature is humidity which should ideally be at around 60-75%. Obviously not everyone has a wine cellar with 60-75% humidity, but potentially a cool and humid space in an outbuilding or a wine fridge may be as close as you can get.
- Position – General convention dictates that wines with a cork, should be stored horizontally in order that the wine remains in contact with the cork to keep it moist. If a cork dries out the seal can fail letting oxygen in and ruining the wine. Therefore, it is best to store the bottle on its side.
- Light – Light is not a friend to wine, that is why most bottles are not made of clear glass. Light taint is actually a much more common fault in wine than cork taint, as most wines are stored on shelves for display purposes. However, when storing a bottle of Aszú it should be kept in a dark or very dimly lit place.
- Noise and vibration – In the same way that light is not good for wine, neither is vibration and noise. Therefore, Aszú should be stored in a place away from noise and vibration in order to avoid agitating the wine.
- Odours and smells – Storing Aszú away from odours and smells will also help prevent contamination.
The worst place to store wine is in the kitchen. Thinking about the list above, light levels are likely to be variable, there will be odours, vibration and noise, as well as big variations in temperature and humidity from cooking. If your wine is in the kitchen, hopefully its in the fridge chilling just prior to serving.
It should be noted that the best wines can comfortably age for 100+ years, but obiviously the more consistent the conditions the more likely it is to survive in tact.
Service temperatures
There is some debate around what temperature is ideal to serve Aszú at. So rather than giving a definitive temperature range, I’ve opted to tell you why each temperature range may be advantageous.
| Desired outcome | Serving Temperature | Potential downside |
| Empahsise the fresheness, acidity and precision | 8ºC – 10ºC | Can mute the aromatic characteristics May not be the best choice for aged wines |
| Balance freshness, aromatics and sweetness | 10ºC – 12ºC | Can subdue the complexity in older wines |
| Emphasise the richness, complexity | 12ºC – 14ºC | Can make younger wines feel too sweet |
| Maximise the aramoatics and textures | 18ºC – 20ºC (room temperature) | May cause wines to feel too sweet, acids too sharp and alcohol to become much more noticeable |
Serving your Aszú at the right temperature, will help to bring out the flavour compounds correctly. In order to get your bottle to the right temperature you have a few options.
Chilling it in the fridge
One option is to chill the bottle in the fridge just prior to serving it. Please note the emphasis here is on the fridge not the freezer. Placing the wine in a freezer is generally not a good idea as it can chill it too quickly causing shock to the wine. If the wine is chilled overnight (and there is nothing wrong with this, or chilling for several days) then its likely at around 4/5ºC, and may just need a short period of time at room temperature to come up to the right temperature for serving.
Using an ice bucket
Another option for both chilling and keeping the bottle chilled is using an ice bucket. To properly an ice bucket, the volume of water to ice should be around 50/50. Too much ice and there is minimal contact with the bottle so it will take longer to chill. If you want to chill the wine a little quicker, you can substitute water with soda water as it will help to cool the wine a little quicker. You can also add salt. Another technique is to gently stir the ice with the wine bottle, this helps to accelerate the process of convection. However, be careful with the last technique as agitating the bubbles could increase the pressure in the bottle.
Allowing it to sit at room temperature
If you want to achieve a slightly warmer temperature then remove the bottle from storage and allow it to acclimatise to room temperature. It should be noted that room temperature in wine terms is generally around 18ºC, so if your room is sitting at 25ºC, you may actually need to chill the wine for 20 minutes prior to serving for it to actually be at room temperature.
Other serving considerations
Tokaj Aszú is a sweet wine, which may lead you to want to utilise a dessert wine glass. This is fine, but particularly for older examples the larger bowl of a white wine glass may actually help the wine to open up and complex aromas to be more easily appreciated.
While generally we tend to think of decanting as something reserved primarily for red wines, some older bottles of Aszú may well benefit from the aeration that decanting can provide. Decanting the bottle 30-60 minutes prior to drinking may just help older examples to open up a little.
Bottle size and label descriptions
The first thing to note about Aszú is that it will almost certainly be in a 500ml not a 750ml bottle. If you are planning a tasting or have a lot of guests, just remember the bottle is not going to go as far as a normal bottle of wine.
There are going to be two sugar levels to choose from, both of which are definitely sweet wines.
- 5 Puttonyos – Minimum 120g/l of sugar
- 6 Puttonyos – Minimum 150g/l of sugar
The reality of course is that while the sugar is also higher in the 6 Puttonyos, the concentration of flavours and acids is also going to be higher, so it is likely going to be a more sophisticated flavour profile.
The other factor to consider is age. 3 years is young, 10 years is still relatively young, 20-50 years is still usually very drinkable, with deeper intensity and more tertiary notes, 100+ years is going to be something very special. Obviously price becomes a factor with age, but generally as a guide 10-20 years of age is going to be a good sweet spot of price to value. Older does not always mean better. There is definitely a hierarchy of producers, and you may find you find the older wines too intense.
A word of warning. As we have already discovered Aszú is not the only style of wine produced in Tokaj. Other 500ml bottles of late harvest, Szamorodni (sweet and dry), even occasional ice wines can exist, as can bottles of completely dry Tokaj wine (usually in 750ml bottles). Make sure you check the label carefully.
The other thing to be aware of is that prior to 2013, 3 and 4 Puttonyos Aszú was available. While it is of course fine to try these, really the magic happens at 5 or 6 Puttonyos. If you want something less sweet you can always opt for a Szamorodni, although you will no longer be drinking Aszú.
Flavour profile and food pairings
Flavour profiles vary according to age. I’ve set out typical characteristics below:
| Age | Characteristics |
| Young Aszú | Apricot, Peach, Orange Zest, Acacia Honey, Citrus Blossom, Apple |
| Aged Aszú | Marmalade, Dried fig, Walnut, Tea leaf, Caramel, Beeswax |
When you taste the wine I suggest looking out for:
Look: The colour of the wine – pale gold, bright gold, deep golden hues, amber, copper-gold or even bronze with age. Also notice the intensity of the colour, it will likely be very intense, but with age you may see some browning at the edges.
Smell: What are the aromas you can detect. Are they those of a young Aszú or an aged version? In my experience the overall aroma is usually moderate to highly intense, but within that there are subtle notes that take a bit more searching for.
Taste: Is the wine balanced – how does the sweetness stack up against the acidity? What is the mouthfeel like – do you notice the body and texture of the wine? How many different flavours are you noticing – the more you find the more complex the wine is. And how long do those flavours persist on your palate?
While it may seem logical to pair a sweet wine with sweet food, there are actually some savoury pairings which work really well. Foie Gras, Roast Duck, Pork dishes, Thai or Indian cuisine are all great options. A personal favourite is pairing Aszú with blue cheese. In the UK Stilton works very well. Beyond this of course, sweet dishes also pair nicely. Think fruit tarts, apricot desserts, almond pastries, anything made with honey typically or even Crème brûlée. The only thing I generally don’t suggest is Chocolate, although white chocolate might just be workable.
Conclusion
I hope this series has given you an insight into the world of Aszú and encouraged you to try more of these beautiful wines. Of course if you want to taste them in Hungary, you can visit many of the vineyards. And in the meantime, keep on exploring this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time.