Let’s celebrate with Tokaji Aszú!

Advent, Christmas, New Year. Well over a month to celebrate with one of the most special and unique Hungarian wines, Tokaji Aszú which definitely belongs to the greatest sweet wines of the world. Its elegance and prestige lift it above everyday wines into the realm of drinks for special occasions so this is the time of the year to buy and open a few bottles of aszú, what’s more we have several arguments to demonstrate the diversity of aszús.

Christmas Present

If you are looking for an elegant and lasting present then look no further. Aszú is a unique wine with many shades resulting from the various microclimates and differencies in soil composition of the numerous vineyards. The fact that it is a wine that cannot be produced in every vintage makes it even more precious. Botrytis cinerea a type of noble rot punctures the skins of healthy and ripe berries assisting the evaporation of liquid matter and thereby increasing the concentration of sugar, acidity and flavour compounds.

Manually picking the aszú berries one by one often in wintry conditions is a painstaking process.

Furthermore all aszús have to go through 18 months of ageing in barrels and a further 12 months in bottle before they are ready to be sold.

Colourful Gastronomy

Though aszú and stuffed cabbage or breaded fish are obviously not great matches there are many festive dishes that go well with aszús. Besides the classic and well-established pairing of goose or duck liver aszús also make good match with roast duck and quince or even slightly more adventurous choices like rabbits or pigeons with sauces made from sweet spices and fruit. Any dessert might be a good pairing, however it’s also worth considering aszú as a dessert on its own.

It is also a great match with blue cheese or young soft cheese served with quince jelly.

Should one suspense with traditional dishes and go for something Asian this year then of course aszú is once again an excellent choice.

Desserts

One of the golden rules of matching food and wine is that the wine should be at least as sweet as the food and this is a requirement easily met by aszús. Classic Christmas cakes contain lots of walnuts, roasted oily seeds, chocolate, candied and dried fruits, jam, marzipan and sweet spices. Beigli, Gerbeaud cake, walnut cake, fruit cake, pumpkin cake, pecan nut cake, chocolate raspberry Pavlova the list could go on.