Topic: TN: Mythos Essencia (long)
Author: David
Date: Tue May 22 07:01:49 2001
Tasting held in Bad Ragaz on Friday afternoon, April 27, 2001. Speakers Max Gerstl and Marta Wille-Baumkauff. Entry fee was a very reasonable 75.- USD (thanks again Marta!). In the order tasted.

For those who are unaware of what Tokaji Eszencia is: it''s the free-run juice from the botrytis-shrivelled Aszú grapes, i.e. before they''re mashed, blended with base must (or base wine) and pressed. Chemical analysis is often such that only a very slow fermentation (which can take years) takes place, if any. Eszencia is almost immortal. Its viscosity and sweetness are such that the Hungarian name Nektár (honey) is fully justified, but many Eszencia achieve amazing balance thanks to very high acids - I''ve in fact seldom had one that tastes anywhere nearly as cloying as many cheap dessert-style wines. Note that Eszencia is normally not meant to be tasted or drunk, although it is extremely healthy thanks to pure monosaccharides, content of minerals, vitamines, antibiotics etc., but is normally used to "adjust" Aszú wines (3 and more Puttonyos), in particular Aszú-Eszencia cuvées (hence in all probability that name, which shouldn''t be confused with Eszencia - pure Eszencia contains no base must or base wine!).

Regarding the 2000 vintage, Marta later at dinner mentioned something to the extent that there may be problems with "dusty botrytis", i.e. bitterness from overly dry or partly roasted Aszú grapes (they''re eventually much like coffee beans), at one or the the other estate (to early to really say something). This topic came up after I had asked her how the in part bitter ''96s behave in barrel today (same problem there), to which she answered that barrel age doesn''t seem to have as much of a positive effect on botrytis bitterness as she had hoped. Be aware, however, that in either vintage generalizations on botrytis-related bitterness would be invalid: apparently Marta experienced less problems of this sort in 2000, while I remember from our site-seeing and barrel-tasting tour in 1999 that other vintners appear to have encountered none in 1996; also, don''t forget dry botrytis is to some extent the result of fine weather, so there''s normally a chance there will be particularly successful wines as well.

If there was anything new for me to learn at this tasting, then that I''m more than ever convinced that at the super-high sugar level, Tokaji Eszencia is unmatched. I''m starting to believe that as fine as German Riesling or Loire Chenin Blanc dessert wines can be, one should not attempt to make them above a certain sugar level, as the results start to lack elegance, i.e. lightness or airiness of aromas and flavours, which only Tokaj Eszencia seems able to maintain at this level. I have still to meet an Eszencia that is cloying (wait there was one made from 100% Oremusz, the abominable hybrid variety I hope they''re going to dismiss again in the region), very much unlike too many modern Loire Chenin sugar bombs, Pedro Ximenez Sherries, Sauternes and lower-scale Alsatian, Austrian German and New World stickies.

Hétszölö Eszencia 2000
This is a producer I have high hopes for, as it is currently the most respectable to make wine from a steep, south-facing loess vineyard on the Tokaj hill itself (bordering Szarvas Dülö!).
Tasting this was much like attempting to eat a live animal. It''s no secret that Eszencia this young must in the course of fermentation to at least some extent, but I''ve never seen one ferment so obviously and (relatively speaking!) vigorously in my glass. Milky yellow colour. Cidery pear juice concentrate, sweet and long, no fun to taste in its present condition unfortunately. Returned to this at the end of the tasting and found that with a little airing a Harslevelü-typical pretty linden flower note became apparent. Although I remember Tibor Kovacs believes in making Aszú from 100% (or almost) Furmint (apart from his pure Harslevelü experiments I reported on earlier), I realize plantings include 30% Harslevelü plus 5% Muskotály (same as de Lunel) and Köverszölö, so I can only assume this sample consisted of a blend of grape varieties. Certainly at least outstanding quality, but really impossible to judge fairly.

Disznókö Eszencia 2000
Needless to emphasize, expectations on any Disznókö Eszencia must be sky-high, given the meticulous vineyard work here. I was not disappointed. 0.2% alcohol, 811 g/l rs and 12.4 g/l acidity. Medium orange colour. Botrytised spiced quince jelly aroma, then texture of a solid. Incredibly thick and rich, roasted honey or roasted honeyed pear, quince, curry and black tea as well as baking spices, young green hazelnuts. You need a digestive to be able to cope with this. Mindblowing concentration, extract and complexity. Long, if that''s the right word here, rather mouthcoating. Of course there is no telling what will happen to this wine''s overall balance once it has fermented as much as it possibly can, and after all it''s a barrel sample, but I understand why Erik, who''s sitting beside me, insists this is a "twenty-one out of twenty point wine" (that would be a 105 out of a 100). It is, at this stage already, as perfect as can be, although this great site''s volcanic terroir typicity doesn''t even come out as yet (imagine what this will/would be like then!). Can anybody explain to me why it didn''t even cross our minds to discuss, let alone criticize, this wine''s balance? Looking at the numbers now, I realize this is not only the highest in sugar, but also the lowest in acidity. It seemed more balanced than any of the other Eszencias, that is, once you were able to take a sip and not choke on it. The kind of wine where every time you think you finished your glass, when you come back, there is another half ounce waiting for you at the bottom (only problem: how do you get it out?). So far only a fermenting must, but among the singular best Eszencias I''ve ever had.

Oremus Essencia 2000
I guess my sympathy for András Bacsó, the director of this estate, is no secret, but I am still waiting for modern Aszú bottlings from here that would wholly convince me. The raw materials, as seen here, can be great. 770 g/l rs, 0.3% alcohol, 13.1 g/l acidity, i.e. a bit sweeter and lower in acidity than the 1999. Orange colour. As thick as the Disznókö, a jelly smelling and tasting of bready pear juice concentrate, quince jelly, huge acacia honey, candied lemon, Darjeeling tea. As near-impossible to swallow as the Disznókö and almost as complete in character - more honeyed, less intensely spicy and complex, much of the depth will still have to come to the surface here. Truly great stuff that Erik rates 20 out of 20 (100 out of a 100). The fact that this impresses me more than the 1999 at the time may be wholly due to context, but it could also be that this is a more even, more harmonious must, with less pronounced (as well as analytically lower) acidity.

Again, nothing wrong with the quality of the wine, but experience has taught me to be cautious. As with the previous wine, one must learn to be realistic about rating barrel samples (especially unfermented musts!), as the next wine proves:

Gróf Degenfeld Essencia 1999
Remember I raved about the sample charming young winemaker Sarolta Bárdos had shown to Albino and me in November 1999? For comparison''s sake a reprint of that TN in italics, followed by today''s:
11/99: Free-run juice of 50% Furmint from Mézesmály, 50% Harslevelü from Terezia, over 600g/l RS. The nose is at once baked and roasted, but fresh, too, with almond, tropical fruits some of which dried and/or candied, butter Croissant dough, Crčme Brűlée. On the palate there a complexity of dried apricot, extremely ripe Pakistani mango, pineapple, roasted honey, and a great chocolatey quality and some Crčme Brűlée. The incredibly high glycerine and dry extract (this hardly moves at all) are held in check, although not wholly balanced, by lovely passion-fruit acidity. Great stuff, and in terms of aromatics and flavours the ''99 Eszencia I would want to own — and we tasted quite a few.
04/01: Hardly the same wine we tasted in ''99!? A relatively light Eszencia, if one at all. I''ve had weightier Szepsy Aszúessencias before plus kept wondering to the end whether I was able to sense some base wine in here. Golden yellow colour. Bee''s wax, some dandelion, Ecchinacea (spelling?), castor oil, curry, juniper-berry. A tiny influence of new oak? I noticed the gracious Marta Wille-Baumkauff felt compelled to literally jump at this wine''s defense, saying that her fellow vintners had repeatedly asked her whether they shouldn''t dilute their Eszencias so as to render them "tasteable", and that many had been concerned about secondary fermentations in bottle (heat during transport, exploding bottles etc.) and so on, to which she had replied the people present at such a tasting would no doubt only want to taste "the real thing", and would in all probability be knowledgeable enough to interpret transportation-related problems (think of the unfavourable showing of the Hétszölö Eszencia, no doubt a sample of very fine must). Of course it would be ridiculous to suggest Gróf Degenfeld could not come up with a better example of Eszencia (as shown in my earlier TN), and although Max Gerstl went on at great length about the prettiness of the aromatics here, it must be said this sample needed a ton of air to finally show it possesses the sweetness and glycerine (and concentration) of a true Eszencia at all; probably most people had simply emptied their glass by the time this became apparent. In retrospect I should add that while the partly-medicinal blossomy floweriness is also rather typical of the great loess terroirs (both at the bottom of the Tokaj hill to the north of Tarcal) this sample stems from (probably still true since I''m not sure Degenfeld owns non-loess vineyards at all), I miss the great roasted or baked quality (and of course the formerly huge attack and mouthfeel) today. Excellent to about outstanding sample (of course the rating would be more favourable were this an Aszú-Eszencia, in which case this would deserve an "outstanding"), getting better in the glass until I left, although definitely on the light side for Eszencia.

Marta Wille-Baumkauff Essencia Tarcal-Déak 1999
1.28% alcohol, 615 g/l rs, 23.3 g/l acidity, 99.9 g/l dry extract. Not so very different from what it tasted like following harvest in November 1999. Lightly amber milky-orange. Overripe apple aromas and flavours, lightly bitter quince, white chocolate, some Alexander pear peel, candied orange and orange rind, baking spices and bread dough, a papaya note, but essentially a heavy wine, less "airy" in its flavour profile than the best, despite the acidity that has terrific cut and gives this all the "quantitative balance" it could possibly have. Not heavy-handed or clumsy, it''s really in the aromatic and flavour profile that this isn''t as light on its feet as the very best. But then it''s really an extremely unevolved wine with an immense future where there may be more to it still. Really excells on the extremely long finish, with what subtlety there is driven by the great acid structure. Outstanding plus, already on the verge to great, but I stubbornly keep rating this as what it is and should be: Tokaji Eszencia — a legend, and hence the promise of the greatest in sweet wine on this planet. Interestingly the stats read quite alike those of the 1988 Essencia Marta offered on auction (see "Pre-Auction Tasting" post).

István Szepsy Essencia 1996
This is the wine that I reported on before, only that Marta''s stats today are 450 g/l rs, 14.8 g/l acidity and 5.4% alcohol in contrast to Szepsy''s earlier 460 g/l rs (insignificant, of course) and 6.5% alcohol - that change of figures is noteworthy, since that number had been the highest I had ever heard for naturally-fermented Eszencia (never forget that during Socialism, many were stabilised by addition of brandy!). This is the Eszencia that Szepsy told us in 1999 he had "fermented in a warm place" (under the stairs in his reception room, if I remember correctly), and about which he said "Eszencia really should have over 500g/l residual sugar", preferably over 600 or 650, is what I believe he concluded at the time. Nonetheless I remember this as pretty stuff of which he said he might bottle approximately 250 bottles (it was ready, and he really needed money back then, that''s why, but I ignore whether he eventually did bottle some). Cognac-coloured (a tiny bit darkened perhaps, but note this is the first time I see this outside a dark cellar). Cognac nose also. Candied lemon, egg yolk, lightly roasted honey, pine, some baked apple, some dandelion, caramel. With airing constantly getting fruitier and seemingly fresher, which really helps to resurrect trust in this wine. While much greater things can be expected from Szepsy (his barrel sample of 1999 Essencia Danczka Dülö clearly surpassed this example at the time), this has (and, for that matter, already had back then) the distinct advantage of being a "finished" modern age Eszencia - not an easy product to come by so far. But let me put it this way: there''s probably no chance this would be sold at a price rendering it worthy of consideration, despite the fact it remains a pretty wine. I''d leave it to wealthy collectors. Outstanding.

Château Pajzos Eszencia 1993
Ever since I started realizing during my visit to Tokaj Hegyalja in 1999 that I cannot bring myself to liking Oremusz the grape variety (not Oremus the producer!) because it lacks acidity and, much worse, freshness and lightness of aroma and flavour, let alone finesse, I understood why I had always had problems interpreting this wine, one I had once bought and tasted in Switzerland with my buddies: it apparently contains a quite high amount (that would, by the way, also explain why there so much of this wine to go around with in the first place - ever noticed?). This seems to me why this wine appears to be losing freshness in bottle, albeit extremely slowly. The stats that Marta offers today would indeed be wholly unsuspicious: 4.59% alcohol, 13.9 g/l acidity and 468 g/l rs (which, I''m afraid, must be a mistake on Marta''s side: although I''ve seen neck labels with different bottling dates, I''ve yet to see one that doesn''t say this contains 565 g/l rs). Quite dark cognac colour looks advanced in comparison to when I last tasted this. So seem the aromas and flavours, at least to some extent: Egg liqueur, baked apple, honey, prune, mocha, chocolate. Seems to have lost in focus and precision, neither ever among its strengths. But maybe this is a later bottled sample (which would still not explain a loss of 100 g/l rs!), and the first ones to hit the market, which I remember, are better? Be that as it may, this is still an outstanding Eszencia that I would gladly enjoy again, but I used to think this just about crossed the border to greatness. Judging from this sample, no more.

Marta Wille-Baumkauff Aszú-Essencia Mád-Holdvölgy 1993
Wasn''t fully able to pay attention to this wine anymore, which Marta had put in to show novices that AE in contrast to E is "wine", as she calls it, or one could say, the highest level Aszú product that the winemaker or cellarmaster still has any kind of influence on, whereas Eszencia or Nektár is by and large a product of chance. Of course this is a wine I happen to know reasonably well by now, and it was no different from when I last tasted it a year before. Tender Cognac-coloured and quite Cognac-flavoured (in a less overwhelming context this often strikes as a bit egg liqueur-like), forceful and quite full-bodied but retaining freshness, candied lemon and orange, curry, a long wine with a light bitterness as is typical here. 10% alcohol (I''ll have to ask her about this, since my earlier notes say 12%, which is more what this tastes like, too), 12 g/l acidity, 220 g/l rs. Well-outstanding as always, the best Marta has made to date. Although the aromatic and flavour development of this wine has been dramatic over recent years, this really seems a slow ager that still hasn''t come together completely.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

P.S.
For those who have problems interpreting my "verbal scoring", the numerical correspondences would be as follows:

79 and below = NOT GOOD (i.e. I''m unattracted enough to be too lazy to figure out)
80 - 84 = GOOD (same as 16 and over in the European 20-point system)
85 - 89 = VERY GOOD (same as 17 and over; I sometimes use EXCELLENT to indicate 88 - 89, or almost-OUTSTANDING)
90 - 94 = OUTSTANDING (same as 18 and over)
95 - 99 = GREAT (or CLASSIC, same as 19 and over)
100 = PERFECT (20/20)