2009 Royal Tokaj, Essencia

ESSENCIA 2009

Essencia is the world’s most concentrated essence of its ripest grapes, it is the ’liquid gold’ that very slowly oozes from a pile of aszú grapes raisined by botrytis and climatic conditions.

The best description for the weather in 2009 is ‘extreme’ , a vintage with two faces. Budding started perfectly with lovely sunny days and high temperature, but we endured serious draught by the middle of May. The late ripening Furmint and Hárslevelű achieved full ripeness by the end of September and the harvest started very early, so we had a clear window to collect first class aszú berries - fortunate, as after 10th October it turned rainy, effectively ending the harvest.

Between late September and mid-October the ‘aszúzás’ took place, the process whereby the pickers select and handpick the aszú berries. Then the free run juice, in this case from first generation berries only, was collected. A tiny and lent alcoholic fermentation took place spontaneously.

Deep gold colour with a hint of amber and a very thick texture. Complex fruitiness on the nose, very rich and complex on the palate with hints of green tea and lots of figs and dates.

Rich and complex in the mouth with a creamy structure. Taste of candied orange peel with dried red berries and a long- lasting, fresh end with very good acidity.

Serve in a crystal spoon.

Alcohol: 1,8 %
Sugar: 581,3 g/l
Acidity: 11,8 g/l

Bottling date: August 2017
1 386 bottles,
37,5 cl