Back to Hungary. That's three visits in four weeks and I didn't expect that when I started. It is partly driven by the alphabet and the difficulty of finding grape varieties or appellations that match the target letter, but it is also because there are some real interesting and good value wines made there.
Another thing I didn't expect was buying the weekly wine in M&S on three occasions in the first eight weeks.
There's a more prosaic reason for this. I had decided a short while ago which grape would represent H, but I hadn't started to research possible sources. My office, where the day job makes even the simple task of choosing and tasting one wine a week difficult to arrange, is in the middle of London. There are some very good wine shops in the area (see all the weeks not mentioning M&S - more to follow), but none of them sells pre-packed sandwiches or sports socks. I needed some socks for an annual golf day and so M&S was the obvious choice for lunch. I can't walk past a wine wall anywhere without doing what I used to tell The One was essential homework for the next exam so, having picked up a pasta salad with chicken and bacon and heading for the irritating self-service checkout, I browsed. I found:
Week H (2013), Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos, 2001. Bottled for M&S by Hilltop Neszmely. 50cl, 11.5% abv, £22.
Many Tokaji Aszu are made with Furmint (see week F (2013)) as the major component, but this one is 70% Harslevelu, so it wasn't just the pasta and socks combo that drove the choice.
Tokaji comes in a variety of forms and the sweet ones, such as this, are made through methods unique to the region, and the words on the label reward a little consideration.
Tokaji means the wine comes from the part of north-east Hungary around the town of Tokaj. There are 27 villages in the region producing these wines, Neszemly being this one's home.
Aszu is the name given here to what the rest of the world calls Noble Rot. The berries (individual grapes) that are affected by the Botrytis Cinerea fungus, shrivel and partial dry out on the vine. The sugars in these berries are concentrated, as the water content decreases, and then the fruit is hand-picked separately from grapes that are unaffected. The Aszu berries are then ground into a paste to be added to previously fermented juices to boost the sweetness of the final wine.
Puttonyo is a hod (or bucket) use to measure out the Aszu paste. 5 Puttonyos means this wine has had five measures of paste added. Six is the maximum, so that leads us to expect that this will be a very sweet wine.
It has a wonderfully rich feel and a lovely honeyed flavour of apricots and nuttiness. Always recommended as a match with soft blue cheeses, pate or desserts, I think it is great on it's own as a treat.
Incidentally, the golf day I mentioned earlier and which lead to me finding this week's wine, turned out to be quite expensive. The night before the event I went to the local driving range to hone my skills. With only a few balls left in the bucket I hit a rather heavy shot. The head of my five iron, unattached to the rest of the club, traveled further than the ball. The professional based at the range was kind enough to suggest a repair, but also canny enough to sell me a new set of clubs, complete with bag, and a much needed lesson.
The day itself was fun, but I scored only seven Stableford points (a player performing in line with their handicap would score 36), lost at least half a dozen balls and drove a round trip of 150 miles for the pleasure.
Pass the corkscrew, please.
There's a more prosaic reason for this. I had decided a short while ago which grape would represent H, but I hadn't started to research possible sources. My office, where the day job makes even the simple task of choosing and tasting one wine a week difficult to arrange, is in the middle of London. There are some very good wine shops in the area (see all the weeks not mentioning M&S - more to follow), but none of them sells pre-packed sandwiches or sports socks. I needed some socks for an annual golf day and so M&S was the obvious choice for lunch. I can't walk past a wine wall anywhere without doing what I used to tell The One was essential homework for the next exam so, having picked up a pasta salad with chicken and bacon and heading for the irritating self-service checkout, I browsed. I found:
Week H (2013), Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos, 2001. Bottled for M&S by Hilltop Neszmely. 50cl, 11.5% abv, £22.Many Tokaji Aszu are made with Furmint (see week F (2013)) as the major component, but this one is 70% Harslevelu, so it wasn't just the pasta and socks combo that drove the choice.
Tokaji comes in a variety of forms and the sweet ones, such as this, are made through methods unique to the region, and the words on the label reward a little consideration.
Tokaji means the wine comes from the part of north-east Hungary around the town of Tokaj. There are 27 villages in the region producing these wines, Neszemly being this one's home.
Aszu is the name given here to what the rest of the world calls Noble Rot. The berries (individual grapes) that are affected by the Botrytis Cinerea fungus, shrivel and partial dry out on the vine. The sugars in these berries are concentrated, as the water content decreases, and then the fruit is hand-picked separately from grapes that are unaffected. The Aszu berries are then ground into a paste to be added to previously fermented juices to boost the sweetness of the final wine.
Puttonyo is a hod (or bucket) use to measure out the Aszu paste. 5 Puttonyos means this wine has had five measures of paste added. Six is the maximum, so that leads us to expect that this will be a very sweet wine.
It has a wonderfully rich feel and a lovely honeyed flavour of apricots and nuttiness. Always recommended as a match with soft blue cheeses, pate or desserts, I think it is great on it's own as a treat.
Incidentally, the golf day I mentioned earlier and which lead to me finding this week's wine, turned out to be quite expensive. The night before the event I went to the local driving range to hone my skills. With only a few balls left in the bucket I hit a rather heavy shot. The head of my five iron, unattached to the rest of the club, traveled further than the ball. The professional based at the range was kind enough to suggest a repair, but also canny enough to sell me a new set of clubs, complete with bag, and a much needed lesson.
The day itself was fun, but I scored only seven Stableford points (a player performing in line with their handicap would score 36), lost at least half a dozen balls and drove a round trip of 150 miles for the pleasure.
Pass the corkscrew, please.
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