wine regions: tokaj
Jul 27 '10
New York Times Makes Quality Time for Tokaj Tourism
Several readers have sent us links to this big travel feature in the New York Times about excursions in Hungary's Tokaj wine region. And for good reason - it's sweet! Check it out....
May 05 '10
What Are They Drinking at the Tokaj Kereskedőház?
Last week our sister site realdeal.hu had an interesting story about Tokaj Kereskedőház Zrt., the state-owned trading firm that has dominated the market for Tokaji wines since communist times. On the surface the piece is very positive, being an announcement...
Mar 10 '10
Are Power Plants and Scheming Slovaks Really The Most Pressing Issues Facing Tokaj Winemakers?
It doesn't quite make the "three examples and it's a trend" rule, but over the last few days there have been two bits of public controversy surrounding the Tokaj wine region. First, on Monday came the news that Slovakia had...
Feb 22 '10
New Culinary Gurus to Tackle Eternal Tokaj-Tikka Masala Mystery This Thursday in Budapest
Longtime readers may have wondered why we haven't seen more from our esteemed contributor Carolyn Bánfalvi. Well, in addition to all her various book projects and children, she and her husband/collaborator Gábor have also been busy with a new...
Jul 30 '09
Dry Tokaj Wines Get Sweet Coverage in International Press
Reader F.Sz. points us at this epic story about the growing popularity of quality dry wines from Tokaj that was published last month in the Wall St. Journal, and which we somehow missed at the time. While there is nothing...
Apr 23 '09
A Sweet Spring Saturday for Local Tokaj Lovers
Just a quick (and hopefully not too late) note to let you know that the Tokaj Renaissance Association will be holding its annual "vintage debut" wine tasting event this Saturday afternoon from 15:00-18:00. Traditionally held at Gundel at the...
Oct 07 '08
Tokaj Villages Threaten to Abandon World Heritage
Although Hungarian tourism bunf never fails to mention the country's half-dozen UNESCO World Heritage sites, several villages in the renowned Tokaj-Hegyalja region reportedly see the prestigious title as more of a hindrance than a help, reports Népszabadság. The strict environmental...
Sep 01 '08
Hungary's Most Predictably Boring Wine Award Awarded
Wine buffs in the English-speaking world often refer to unexpectedly great bottles as "sleepers." But the other, more traditional use of the word "sleep" might be better employed to describe my reaction to the oh-so-predictable announcement last week that Vylyan...
May 28 '08
Tokaj Wine Just Got Even Healthier
The important medicinal and therapeutic effects of Hungarian wine are old news, but few could ever imagine Tokaj's finest (pictured sliced above) would ever be made into anything other than the respected culinary accoutrement. Yet combining the two biggest...
Apr 24 '08
Wine Bargain Alert (II): 18 Top Tokaj Wineries, for Just €20
If you are in Budapest this weekend and have a taste for Tokaj, or are just curious to sample a slew of sweet and szamorodni offerings from Hungary's most famous wine region, the place to be is the big annual...
Jan 29 '08
Tokaj Almost as Exciting a Tourist Destination as... Detroit
Okay, so we were trying to ignore this, but since several readers have sent it in, here we go: according to a "best of" piece published in the travel section of the New York Times last month, the famed Hungarian...
Dec 03 '07
A Toast to Everyone Putting "Tokaj... Off the Beaten Track" on Track
Back in October we attended a refreshingly excellent culinary event in the dining room of the A38 Boat launching an interesting promotional campaign aimed at educating local and visiting gourmands and restaurateurs about the glories of Tokaj wines. Called...
Jun 28 '07
Jumbo Heist Provides Vital Publicity for Hungarian Winemaker
Some rare international wine news just in from the Pheonix Business Journal that an underworld wannabe (at least judging by his nickname) known as János "Giovanni" Konc has been charged with stealing 737 cases of Tokaj wine from the Hungarian...
May 24 '07
Report Finds Hungarian "Pill Wine" Being Replaced by Other Headaches
Although use of the term tablettás bor (wine made from soluble tablets, rather than actual grapes) continues to be widespread in Hungary, the latest evidence suggests that this trick is a thing of the past, at least in Eger, reports...
May 16 '07
Traffic Threatens to Flatten Tokaj World Heritage Status
The woes of the world-famous Tokaj wine town never seem to end. First came the "ignoble" rot, then there was the unseasonal frost and now its status as one of Hungary's eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites is under threat. Unless,...
May 04 '07
Fruit Crops in North-western Hungary Ravaged By Freak Freeze
It may seem that spring has arrived and long balmy summer nights are just around the corner, but farmers in north-eastern Hungary have not been sleeping easy. According to a variety of sources cherry-picked by us, a series of spring...
Apr 20 '07
Wine News Flash: Meet the New Tokaji '03s at Gundel this Saturday
It's just come to our (late) attention that Tokaji Renaissance, the multi-producer association of winemakers from Hungary's sweetest wine region, is hosting an event tomorrow at Gundel. As usual, details are a bit sketchy, but apparently they will be introducing...
Mar 30 '07
Hungarian-Italian Wine War to Escalate on Monday
As we reported last September, an EU court gave wine producers within the EU until this April to adhere to a 2004 ruling by the European Commission and stop calling their wines "Tokaji," or any similar name that might make...
Jan 09 '07
King of Tokaj Snubbed by Fawning American Journalists
Several readers have written in over the past week to see if we'd seen a certain feature article in the New York Times about the Hungarian wine region of Tokaj. (Note that the story is likely to go behind...
Dec 05 '06
Some Sweet News and Not-So-Sweet News About Royal Tokaji
Even in the world of wine, news is seldom all good or bad, and today's item about leading Hungarian sweet wine producer Royal Tokaji is no different. Following tradition, we'll give the bad news first. We've just heard news...
Nov 24 '06
Tokaji Tips (II): The 2003 Late Harvest Sárgamuskotály from Royal Tokaji
As we just said, there is a lot more innovation and risk-taking going on in Tokaj than some would have you believe. Today's second example comes from one of the most tradition-minded producers in the region, Royal Tokaji. Last...
Nov 24 '06
Tokaji Tips (I): The 2004 Dobogó Dry Furmint
Around Hungary and the world, even some educated winos continue to think of Tokaj as a region lacking in innovation. While there are good reasons for this - especially the whacky appellation rules that result in some otherwise delicious...
Nov 15 '06
Tokaj Vineyards Hit By "Ignoble" Rot
So if you didn't already know, the distinctive aroma, flavor and sweetness of Tokaj's famous aszú wines are actually caused by an infestation of the fungus Botrytis cinerea, which results in what wine snoots call "Noble Rot." Unfortunately, such delicious...
Oct 27 '06
New Program to Protect Villány from Wine Villains
As we reported last month, Hungary's Tokaj wine region is so popular that some unscrupulous winemakers have magically transported it to Ukraine. Now, to combat similar deceptions, winemakers in Villány will adopt an "origin protection" (eredetvédelmi) program to formally lay...
Oct 06 '06
If It's Got To Be A Wine Festival, It's Got To Be Tokaj
Although every winegrowing village in Hungary is drunk on it's harvest celebrations right now, the really big one is this weekend in Tokaj. The all day events, with a tradtion that goes back to 1932, are not restricted to getting...
Oct 04 '06
Tokaj Production Stopped Up By Lack of Bottles
Tokaj winemakers could be millions of forints out of pocket after a delay in the bottling process - namely that there are no bottles. By wine law, the world-famous Tokaj Aszú, Eszencia and Szamorodni dessert wines (find out more about...
Sep 26 '06
EU Ruling Leaves Italian "Tocai" Producers Facing Cold Turkey
As we've just proven, it doesn't take much to justify a celebration over wine in Hungary. But this week Hungary's Tokaj region has another reason to celebrate: according to a report in the Austrian press picked up by various media...
Sep 14 '06
Wine News (II): How About a Nice Ukrainian Tokaji with Your Borsch and Holubtsi?
It's not just the producers of Hungarian banknotes who are worried about counterfeiting in neighboring Ukraine. News portal Index.hu recently got hold of a bottle of "tokaji" muskotály and hárslevelű made in Beregszász, Ukraine. Hungarian experts said the bottles are...
