CleverRoot

3 6 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t Tokaj is best known for its honeyed late- harvest dessert wines. Celebrated as the "wine of kings and king of wines" by none other than France's Louis XIV, the region's famously botrytized Aszú and Eszencia wines are as rare as they are expensive—and they have to be: The process of making them is labor-intensive, and the conditions for "noble rot" (the fungus Botrytis cinerea) to take hold are notoriously fickle. In a good year, the amber-hued nectar derived from Aszú berries is layered in classic aromas of marma- lade and dried apricot, fleshy quince and warm spice. When we think of Tokaji, this is the image we conjure. (Tokaj is the region; the adjective form of the word, Tokaji, refers to wines from Tokaj. —Ed.) But that image is slowly changing thanks to the work of István Szepsy and his son, István Szepsy Jr. This father and son duo have worked tirelessly since 2003 to elevate Furmint, one of the principal varieties used in making Tokaj's delectable sweet wines, as a dry wine. It's an effort that includes painstaking research into clonal selections and iden- tifying the right microclimates, many of them perched well above the rolling morning fog that gives botrytis the humidity it needs to thrive. Says Winemaker Szepsy Sr. of the historic vineyards of Mád: "This vine behaves differently from the other, and that some are not so fat, and some leaves are smaller, the nodes are shorter and the flowering is earlier. And you feel that there is something different—the question was and still is, where can we find those parcels that will give the grapes a special aroma and structure?" 3 6 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t IN RECOGNITION OF HUNGARY'S NEWEST WINE STYLE, THE CLEVER ROOT CELEBRATES THE YEAR OF FURMINT by Christine Havens The Grand Debut of WINESOFEXCELLENCE.COM DRY FURMINT Father István Szepsy, 65, the King of Aszú, and his son, István Szepsy, Jr., 35, 18th-generation winemaker, are challenging the wine world with Tokaji dry Furmint. PHOTO: FERENC DANCSECS

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