Szepsy Betsek Tokaji Aszú

“We believe that with our Betsek and Szent Tamás parcel-selected Aszús we have made our best ever wines.” (Szepsy Winery)

Vintage: In 2017 the combination of a lot of sunshine, cold nights and cool dawns, and appropriate precipitation, had such a stimulating effect on the quality of Furmint vines living in the Szent Tamás and Betsek vineyards of the Szepsy estate that a vintage giving extraordinary wines could manifest. An unusually cold winter was followed by an early bud break, but the vines only burst into flower in the two vineyards right at the end of May. Finally, the fully ripe fruit, which was selected by hand, grape by grape, created concentrated, elegant and lively wines with beautiful aromas, marked acidity and high aging potential.

Vineyard (dűlő): Betsek vineyard is right in the centre of the valley that lies to the east of Mád, so it is particularly sheltered with its own microclimate, and the exposure to sunlight of not only the south-facing parcels but also the northwest-facing is advantageous to vine development. The soil is extremely unusual: a mix of yellow clay and very soft weathered white tuff which gives wine with strong mineral character. The age of the classic small bunch Furmint that grows here is exceptional in both botanical and viticultural terms; over 50 years old, in itself this fact expresses the ars poetica of the Szepsy family.

Winemaking: After many years of variety and vineyard selection, Szepsy waited until 2017 for the perfect moment that enabled these grapevines with previously selected specific attributes to show off their flavours that present the most significant characteristics of the given vineyard like never before.

Szepsy followed Aszú-making traditions stretching back over 500 years during the creation of the wines. Both lots were fermented in two 250-l new barrels of 100% Zemplén oak. The base wine was poured onto the aszú berries during the period of intensive alcoholic fermentation. The maceration (soaking) of the aszú berries lasted for two days before pressing the berries in a traditional manual press. The wines were bottled in spring 2020.

Sweet white wine – 0.5 l/bottle

Grape variety: 100% Furmint

Origin: Mád, Betsek vineyard, parcel no. 0132/3

Alcohol: 11% vol.

Residual sugar: 261 g/l; Acidity: 8.7 g/l

Total quantity produced: 946 bottles