It was the star of a workshop about Tokaj wines and their potential in gastronomy, organized by the Croatian Sommelier Club and Zagreb's Kaiser restaurant by sommelier Mario Meštrović. Although the most common and famous Tokaj wines are sweet, the tasting included wines of different styles with dishes that went well with them, as well as those that didn't. This was done intentionally to emphasize the desirable and undesirable components of pairing. The less sweet wines went well with nuts and dried fruits, while the sweeter ones went well with ripe goat cheese and chicken liver pâté with onion marmalade. The sweetest Tokaj wine paired nicely with ripe cheese with noble mold.
There are three main varieties in Tokaj: Furmint (Moslavac), Hárslevelű (Lipovina) and Sárgamuskotály (Muscat). Kabar, Zéta and Kövérszőlő are also allowed, but are used less frequently and in small proportions. Sweet wines are most often made from these blends, although dry varieties are also becoming more common, as are single-varietal wines made from Furmint and Hárslevelű . Tokaj-Hegyalja or Tokajsko podbręde is one of the most important wine-growing regions in the world and is the oldest wine appellation established in 1757. In the second half of the 16th century, Tokaj Aszu began to be produced and it was the first wine made from grapes affected by noble rot or botrytis.
The first written traces of wine production in the area date back to 1067. With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Tokaj wine-growing region was divided, so now the greater part, about 6,000 hectares, is in Hungary, and about 1,000 hectares is in Slovakia. The tasting showed a very clear difference in the wines. In the Slovakian part of the region, the orientation of the vineyards is mainly to the north and north-west, so herbal wines with more freshness come from those positions. In the Hungarian part, the orientation is mostly south and the wines have a fruitier aromatic profile. I am especially glad that the dry wines aroused a lot of interest, while the sweet ones, as expected, turned out to be excellent. Tokajje is called the king of wine and the wine of kings, and Tokajje Day is celebrated on December the 10th.
