ESSENCIA 2017 – VINTAGE NOTES
A cold snowy start to 2017 had temperatures remaining below average until the end of February. The weather warmed in March with budding aided by well-distributed rainfall. Vines remained healthy during spring. Continued light but widespread rain raised our hopes for a good Aszú vintage with our expectations turning to reality after a hot August with the first signs of botrytis on our grapes.
At Royal Tokaji we began harvesting our 2017 Aszú berries on 1st September. The autumn months were ideal for a fine quality Aszú berry harvest, in particular three textbook weeks in October of early morning mists, afternoon sunshine and drying winds blowing up into the vineyards from across the Great Plain of Hungary.
Each Aszú berry is picked by hand, selecting only the highest quality berries with perfect botrytis. Each picker only brings in between 5 to 10kgs of berries a day.
About 40 kilos are needed to make one 37.5cl bottle of Essencia.
4,770 bottles (37.5cl) produced
2.2% alcohol, 557g/l sugar and 10.4 g/l acidity.
