Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/935769
{ SOMMjournal.com } 75 Jay James, MS, leads the panel on Central European wines at SommCon in San Diego. The Central European panel from left to right: Dr. Péter Molnár, Ph.D., General Manager and Chief Enologist of Patricius Winery; Cliff Rames, Editor-at-Large for The SOMM Journal and Founder of Wines of Croatia; Ioana Benga, Export Manager for Jidvei Winery; Jay James, MS, Chairman of the Board of SommFoundation; Christina Boutari, Winery Ambassador for Boutari; and Lars Leicht, Director of Trade Development for Castello Banfi Wines. REGION/COUNTRY: TOKAJ, HUNGARY The appellation of Tokaj in north- eastern Hungary is one of the world's oldest, most historically-cel- ebrated winegrowing regions with a legacy dating back to the ninth century. Its wines were so highly re - garded that it was declared the first closed winegrowing region in 1737, yet Tokaj nearly disappeared from international consciousness during the second half of the 20th century. Following World War II, Soviets who viewed the grapes solely as commodities occupied the region. After enduring decades of policy and practices geared toward mass production until the fall of commu - nism in 1989, the vineyards are again being privatized and young, innova- tive winemakers are working to re- establish Tokaj's former reputation. One such company manager and winemaker is Péter Molnár, Ph.D., of Patricius Winery, who kicked off the session on the wines of Tokaj. "We tried to recover the knowledge that existed here before the Second World War," he told attendees. "Because of the socialist era, everyone had to sell their grapes to the state-owned company and the knowledge of the ter - roir nearly disappeared." In recent years, there has been significant financial invest- ment to elevate Tokaj's presence worldwide while adapting to modern-day tastes through the pursuit of dry wines. Patricius Winery General Manager and Chief Enologist Dr. Péter Molnár, Ph.D., reviews the history of Tokaj.