Disznókő 1413 Szamorodni Edes 2018 500mL

This is a mouth-wateringly racy, delicious wine that doesn’t require further aging. In some respects, it is comparable to an Aszú, with flavours of honey, candied orange, sweet spice and zingy acidity, but it is also considerably lighter and less concentrated. Like the Late Harvest, it is supremely flexible at the table.

This traditional style of sweet wine has been produced in Tokaj for centuries, and 1413 is the year the Disznókő vineyard was first mentioned in a land register. The name Szamorodni comes from the Polish meaning 'as it comes' or 'the way it was grown', and so the bunches come as they are from vineyard to cellar. Therefore, unlike the Aszú wines, which have grapes selected berry-by-berry, these were picked in whole bunches, containing a mix of very ripe late-harvest grapes, raisined grapes and 20 to 40% botrytised fruit.

The wine was made in a similar way to the world-famous wines of Sauternes, and was aged for at least two years in ex-Sauternes barrels. Szamorodni can be made in two styles—sweet (edes) and dry (száraz). Reflecting the balance in the vineyard, Disznókő’s Szamorodni Edes is predominantly Furmint and typically has 50 to 100 grams of residual sugar.  

Domaine Disznoko
Back in its glory years of the 16th and 17th centuries the vineyards flowing down the Disznókő hill had the kind of reputation afforded to Le Montrachet in more recent times. Since those days, history has not been quite so kind to Tokaj’s great vineyards or its famous (Tokaji) Aszú sweet wines—once famously immortalised by France’s King Louis XV as the “Wine of Kings, King of Wines”. To cut a long story short, phylloxera, followed by the two World Wars, put the brakes on Tokaj’s reputation, before the rise of Communism really stuck the boot in.

In a nutshell, the style of wine that this terroir gifts is one of great aromatic purity, freshness and cloud-like delicacy with racy, citric acidities balancing the wine’s inherent natural sweetness.

It is only in the last twenty years or so—instigated by outside investment—that Tokaj has begun to recapture the quality, if not the former fame, of its once legendary sweet wines. Disznókő—the name of the estate and the vineyard, which lies just south of the wonderfully named town of Mád—has been one of the preeminent growers leading this rebirth. In this case, we have an “AXA-funded resurrection” with the dynamic combination of MD Christian Seeley (who has also overseen the revivals of Château Suduiraut and Quinta do Noval) and an inspirational winemaker in László Mészáros driving the renaissance. We have these men and their excellent team to thank for bringing back this once revered vineyard and its wines from the brink. They have a purpose-built, state-of-the-art cellar to work with, perfectly situated on the edge of the vineyard. And what a glorious vineyard it is. The arc and gradient of this dramatic site give Mészáros & Co. a full range of favourable exposures to allow the necessary ripening and hang time of grapes this far north.

Just as important are their warrens of underground springs that result in levels of humidity that encourage the onset of Botrytis cinerea, the noble rot essential to concentrating the Aszú berries’ juice to astonishing, nectar-like levels. Unusually for the region, all Disznókő’s wines are 100% estate grown and produced. The Aszú wines crafted here are not only prime examples of one of the world’s great sweet wine styles, but they are also some of its most individual and profound examples of the genre. In a nutshell, the style of wine that this terroir gifts is one of great aromatic purity, freshness and cloud-like delicacy with racy, citric acidities balancing the wine’s inherent sweetness. This contrasts strongly with many of the region’s more unctuous, viscous, honeyed styles. If you think purity, clarity, and raciness suggest the kind of wines we typically search for across Europe—you’d be exactly right. It was these very characteristics that drew us to Disznókő in the first place.