2016 Tokaji Oremus Aszu 5 Puttonyos 500ml, Hungary

Attractive aromas of dried apricots, dried mangoes, ripe carambola, walnuts, melon skins and creme brulee. Medium-bodied, so fresh and crunchy with medium sweetness that is almost invisible behind the vivid acidity and chalky minerality. Delicious fruit. Very gastronomic. Drink and enjoy now

94 points jamessuckling.com Oct 2023

Average vineyard age - 21 yearsAszu 3 Puttonyos is an elegant and fresh wine, with balanced acidity which makes it a vibrant yet velvety wine.

The production of the Aszú wine (wine of tears) is a meticulous process, which requires great patience and extensive know-how. It is only possible in good vintages, when nature brings rain at the end of the summer and sun and wind in early autumn, which are the essential conditions for the process for noble berries to from. The berries swollen due to the humidity split and the "Botrytis cinérea" establishes in its skin and creates the noble rotThe same formulas are used to make the wines as have been used for hundreds of years.

To the must in a Gönc barrel, that is 136-litres, 3, 5 or 6 23-kg panniers ("puttony" in Hungarian) of Aszú noble berries. The Aszú noble berries are macerated with the must and we then wait for one day or two for the berries to swell and they are then pressed.

The fermentation of the Aszú must is a slow process that can sometimes last up to two months. It is then put into wood barrels and is left in a protected wine press, waiting for the fermentation to stop by itself. We then add a little Eszencia, which has been collected drop by drop from the Aszú berries. We thus symbolically return its soul, which is embodied in the Eszencia.