Tokaji Szamorodni Száraz at Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant

Tokaji Szamorodni Száraz at Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant

The Wife and I blew over to Hillside this evening for some Hungarian food and were very impressed by the big menu, gracious service and simply excellent food at The Epicurean Hungarian. I plan to post about the chow on another thread, but one of the most memorable tastes of the meal was a white wine The Wife selected: a Tokaji Szamorodni Száraz ($10.50/glass). I was surprised by the strong sherry notes in this wine, and it had lots more guts than many other whites, almost too assertive for cheese, but very refreshing, with a big personality. The name suggests it may be made of a shiraz (that's a guess; I defer to the more linguistically inclined to confirm or refute), and there is a slight red blush to it and some sweetness (though it's classified as a "dry" -- in fact, it's the only dry tokaji on the very large and almost 100% Hungarian wine list).



The Epicurean Hungarian
4431 W. Roosevelt Rd. Hillside Il
708-449-1000

Száraz means "dry", and Tokaji wine may be made from any number of grapes, but shiraz is not one of them. Szamorodni means, literally, "the manner of growing" and in this case refers to wines that have been made from grapes that have been botrytized (allowed to mold). That's likely what accounts for the sherry notes you mentioned.

Thanks, kennyz.

Another good sip I had here was of Donausonne Blaufrankisch, a red that went exceptionally well with cold sour cherry soup. Though I had it before dinner, this soup might have gone just as well (or maybe even better) as dessert -- it was slightly sweet and topped (oddly I thought) with whipped cream.

I don't think botrytis would be responsible for the sherry flavor. Botrytis would be responsible for high sugar levels. The sherry taste is most likely as a result of some form of oxidation while aging the wine. The aszu grapes most affected by botrytis are use in the making of Tokaji Aszu.

deesher wrote:I don't think botrytis would be responsible for the sherry flavor. Botrytis would be responsible for high sugar levels. The sherry taste is most likely as a result of some form of oxidation while aging the wine. The aszu grapes most affected by botrytis are use in the making of Tokaji Aszu.

Could the sherry notes be the result of the kind of casks the wine was aged in?

I think some of the sherry like flavor in sherry and Madeira is caused to a large extent by intentional oxidation. The barrels in which the wine ages are not completely filled, allowing oxygen contact. I know that Macallan uses old sherry barrels for most of their scotch, but I doubt that Hungarian wine producers do.

deesher wrote:I think some of the sherry like flavor in sherry and Madeira is caused to a large extent by intentional oxidation. The barrels in which the wine ages are not completely filled, allowing oxygen contact. I know that Macallan uses old sherry barrels for most of their scotch, but I doubt that Hungarian wine producers do.

Yes, Macallan came to mind, and I, too, doubt that Hungarian wine producers use sherry casks for aging. The sherry flavors are so distinct, though, that I have to believe that the oxidation is, indeed, intentional.

Kennyz wrote:Száraz means "dry", and Tokaji wine may be made from any number of grapes, but shiraz is not one of them. Szamorodni means, literally, "the manner of growing" and in this case refers to wines that have been made from grapes that have been botrytized (allowed to mold). That's likely what accounts for the sherry notes you mentioned.

To expound on this: Szamordni does contain some botytised grapes, but they're not picked exclusively, as they are for Aszú. Basically, as far as it's always been explained to me, they dump a bunch of grapes, some botrytised, some not, into a oak casks to make Tokaji Szamorodni. Some Tokajis are aged exlusively in oak, some are partially aged in oak, and then dumped into steel (Tokaji Furmint, for instance).

There are four varietals that are used in Tokaji production: Furmint, Hárslevelú, Yellow Muscat, and Oremus. When making Aszú, the famous dessert wine, botrytised grapes are hand selected from the harvest. Non-botrytised grapes are used to make Tokaji Furmint and Tokaji Hárslevelú. These two grapes are used to make the base wine for Tokaji Aszú.

When you get Aszú, there is a number, usually 3, 4, 5, or 6 puttonyos. (Or the equivalent of 7 in the case of Eszencia, but the number never appears with that labeling). A puttony is basically a unit of measurement equal to a basket/bushel/whatever of 25 kg of botrysized grapes. This mash of botrysized grapes is added to the base wine I mentioned above to make Tokaji Aszú. Ergo, the higher the number the sweeter (and generally the more desirable and expensive) the wine.

Szamorodni is made when grapes are not hand-selected for botrytis and carefully blended to create the different varieties of Aszú.