Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/780573
{ SOMMjournal.com } 65 It seems his "bad idea" is quite a success already, with more to come. With the passion and dedication of Szepsy Jr. and Kovács—who work closely with Eniko˝ Magyar, Project Director of Wines of Excellence, and Tamás Nagy, educator for Szent Tamás and Mad Wine wineries, as well as U.S. importer and mar - ket builder Attila Balla, President of Vinum Tokaj International, to produce these ris- ing wines—The Somm Journal is officially declaring 2017 The Year of Furmint—a quality-driven, unique, site-specific and gas- tronomic beauty of a white wine. Anecdotes and the enjoyment of wine go hand in hand; it's always fun to feel like you are sharing a piece of history and culture while simply sipping some - thing delicious. The tale of the origin of the discovery of Tokaji sweet wines dates to the 13th century. The Mongol Empire invaded Hungary in 1241 and 1242; they went home for the winter, however, so when the Hungarians emerged in the stretch of silence, they found fully botrytized berries and har - vested the first sweet wines that would later become internationally acclaimed. While learning about the capability of the dry wines from Tokaj, the immer - sion into the region was immensely helpful to better understand the sweet wines as well. The Mád Late Harvest is a "bribe" wine—encouragement to growers to provide grapes designated unaffected by Botrytis cinerea for dry Furmint—and a delicious bribe wine at that. The Szamorodni wines by design should be sweet but not too sweet. "We try to blend the best of the over - ripe and the botrytis grapes," explains Szepsy Jr., leading to an in-depth discus- sion of Botrytis cinerea. "Botrytis lives in the berry. It's the spores that you see outside on the grape," Szepsy Jr. demonstrates while holding a cluster. As the grapes shrivel and the water content in the grape diminishes, the sugar is concentrated and the grape hardens. Still to this day only females pick the botrytis-affected grapes as they have the "magic touch" to know when they are perfectly ready to be picked. The grapes picked for the Aszú wines are completely hardened and dehy - drated and are made into a paste. The Aszú recipe for Szent Tamás is one half Aszú and one half dry base wine; the base wine essentially rehydrates the berries-now-paste so the blend may ferment and be pressed, maintaining the distinctively high sugar content. The wine then spends five and a half years in old barrels. Gönc barrels, which hold 136 liters, are still traditionally used. They were originally used for practicality—to pass through the Carpathian Mountains on mules, as under Turkish rule with a majority Muslim population, the export market became principal. The sweet wines of Tokaj will always hold a special place in the market. It is the same characteristics that make the sweet wines remarkable, though, that make the dry wines remarkable too. "Some say acidity or tannin [keeps the sweet wines from being cloying], but it's the minerals; they clean the palate," clar - ifies Szepsy Jr. The minerals of the Tokaj region, and the unique, native varieties, simply establish a base for distinctive wines, sweet or dry. Vintage Summation 2015: With high temperatures and a lack of rain, very little Botrytis cinerea development made an ideal harvest for dry wines. 2014: A challenging, rainy harvest caused a focus on berry selection within the bunches in the vineyards, therefore lower yields but high quality. The wines of 2014 show fine acidity, structure and minerality. 2013: One of the best vintages recently with very good weather throughout the ripening season. The harvest was ideal for both dry and sweet wines. 2012: A dr y, warm year resulted in ripe fruit characteristics on the nose and on the palate. The wines from this vintage generally have great aging potential. 2011: An almost perfectly balanced vintage, the harvest started early and resulted in little Botrytis cinerea development; the year was ideal for dry selections. It is customary in Hungary to start with soup daily for lunch.