2008 Hetszolo Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos
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Tasting notes
Organic farming. 100% Furmint. TA 10.1 g/l, RS 151.4 g/l. Glorious melee of sumptuously ripe tropical fruit: guava, mango, orange, golden peaches, banana, papaya, pineapple. This wine is trumpeting its heart out. Just masses and masses of outrageously generous fruit, but also great depth of tang. A mouthful of this wine is like getting caught up in the middle of the Notting Hill Carnival. You just want to laugh with the sheer high-kicking, lavish joy of it. But that tanginess also has a very interesting side to it: lime pickle, even quite salty, tamarind tangy. I love the edge of bitterness here: lime peel and pith in an earthy tamarind spicy syrup, a dab of instant-coffee powder. This is very, very interesting. Marching to the beat of its own drum. The Aszú with a streak of sedition. We didn't get to taste this wine with the meal, but I suspect that this might be a really good wine to try with fine-dining Indian food. (TC)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Since 2009 this Hungarian property has belonged to the owner of Cos, Michel Reybier. High acidity and masses of tang but enough body to go well with the gariguette strawberries. (JR)
The 2008 Tokaji Aszu 5-Puttonyos was afflicted by a lot of grey rot and so needed fastidious selection. With slightly less sugar than the 2010 (145 grams per liter), it has a harmonious apricot preserve, creme brulee and peach skin-scented bouquet that is well-defined. The palate is well-balanced with a sharp entry, racy acidity and plenty of peach and apricot fruit that still seems quite primal. It is a racier style of Tokaji – clean and fresh with very zesty, slightly angular finish. I would give this another two years in bottle for it to muster a touch of cohesion. Drink 2015-2040. Hetszolo is one of the oldest estates in Tokaji, having been founded in 1502. The name means “seven vineyards,” since it originated so and they were one of the main sources for the famous ancient Tokajis of the Royal Imperial Estate. This was mainly because of its propensity to produce a high quantity of high quality botrytized fruit, i.e. aszu. One need only glance at the vineyard to see why. The 55 hectares of vine are located in a single block on one steep south-facing incline facing the Great Plain. The soil is different from the volcanic earth around Mad. Here it is mainly loess, approximately 15 centimeters deep at the bottom and becoming shallower toward the top at around 310 meters altitude. The vineyard is populated by around 80% Furmint, with Harslevelu planted at the bottom of the hill, since it needs more water. Unfortunately, all the vines were grubbed up after World War II, and so in 1991 they inaugurated a ten-year re-planting program. In 2008, the estate was acquired by the Reybier family, proprietors of Chateau Cos d’Estournel. “We produce more perfumed, elegant wines,” their winemaker informed me. “They tend to be lighter style, sometimes with a little less acidity.” The focus here is squarely upon Aszu 5-Puttonyos wines. What is slightly different here is that the aszu berries are added before the fermentation has started, followed by a maceration of around 12 hours to one day. “We think this is the most gentle way to do the maceration and preserve the primary aromas. It enhances the elegance of the loess soils. We have to be careful with oxidation due to the longer maceration time.” Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates 105 Madison Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799; fax (212) 279-0499; and through Eminent Wines (UK) www.eminentwines.com