Tokaj Aszu day to be celebrated on 10th December!

Mumbai, India
The 10th of December, 2017 will  the first ever International Aszú Day. Tokaj Aszú one of the greatest sweet wines of the world comes from the Tokaj wine region is situated in North East Hungary at the foothills of the Zemplén
Mountains, along the rivers Bodrog and Tisza; the world’s first delimited wine region since 1737.

How is the sweet wine made?
Thanks to the special microclimate of the wine region the onset of Botrytis cinerea or noble rot responsible for the shrivelling of berries is an almost certain occurrence each year though admittedly with varying degrees of intensity.Once the liquid matter has evaporated the aszú berries are macerated in the fermenting juice or base wine of the same vintage for 24-48 hours with regular stirring for proper extraction. Once the maceration is done the aszú paste is removed, pressed and the resulting must is fermented to arrive at Tokaj Aszú. Post-fermentation residual sugar content must reach at least 120 gram/liter. Properly stored Tokaj Aszús can be enjoyed for several decades. A properly stored 20 year old Aszú is still magnificent with slightly transformed flavours, added complexity; it’s easy to see why they are so highly regarded by connoisseurs. However tasting younger Aszús with their more springlike, fresher and brighter profile provides just as much pleasure.

Daniel Kezdy , the Man! 
The idea of the International Aszú Day came from Dániel Kézdy, an avid fan and great expert of Tokaj. Mr. Kézdy has published a book on the wine region in 2014 with the title Tokaj – People and Vineyards which is available both in Hungarian and English. He was also the initiator and organizer of Furmint Február an annual event since 2010, and Hárslevelűk Éjszakája since 2014. The two events are designed to highlight these important Hungarian varieties. It was also Mr. Kézdy who came up with the idea of the International Furmint Day to be celebrated on the 1st of February.
"Tokaj wines have been the focus of my interest for 15 years now, I have tasted them alongside their major international rivals and Tokaj Aszús have always been among the leaders of the pack often finishing head and shoulders above the rest. If one takes a closer look at the often neglected category of sweet wines then to my mind there can only be one outcome as far as the winner is concerned. You might say I am biased but I am convinced
that it would be a hell of a task to refute me, so I’m not afraid to declare that Tokaj Aszú is the greatest sweet wine in the world and it deserves to be put in the limelight worldwide”, says  Kézdy.

( Excerpt from a press release)

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