Tokaji: Hungary's Aszú, Puttonyos and Dry Furmint

Tokaji is the wine of Tokaj, a hilly region in northeast Hungary with a small part in Slovakia, and its most famous style is Tokaji Aszú, a sweet wine made from grapes shriveled by noble rot. Its sweetness was traditionally counted in puttonyos, baskets of those grapes, and many labels still show the number. Tokaj also makes Eszencia, one of the sweetest wines in the world, sweet and dry Szamorodni, and crisp dry Furmint. Here is what each one is, what the label words mean under the current rules, and what to eat with them.

Where Tokaj is

According to UNESCO, the region sits at the foot of the Zemplén Mountains, along the Bodrog river and where the Bodrog meets the Tisza. Its wetlands create a microclimate that favors noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), a fungus that shrivels ripe grapes and concentrates their sugar, and its slopes are volcanic.

Tokaj’s official product specification limits the protected area to the best-rated vineyard land of 27 settlements, including Tokaj, Tarcal, Mád, Tállya, Tolcsva, Sárospatak and Sátoraljaújhely. A small part of the historic region is in Slovakia: Wikipedia says about 1.75 km² (432 acres) went to Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Trianon, and a 2004 agreement allows Slovak wine from 5.65 km² (1,396 acres) to be labeled “Tokajský”.

A UNESCO World Heritage site

The Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2002. UNESCO’s listing notes that:

• the property covers 13,245 ha (32,729 acres), plus a buffer zone, across the same 27 settlements;
• the region’s documented wine history goes back to 1561, and its boundaries were fixed by a 1737 decree of Emperor Charles VI, which made it a closed wine region and one of the first legally delimited wine regions in the world;
• its cellars, many carved by hand into volcanic rock, are the region’s most typical structures, and King Kálmán’s cellar in Tarcal is known to have existed as early as 1110;
• the region represents a wine tradition of at least a thousand years that has survived intact.

Wikipedia adds that legend credits Laczkó Máté Szepsi with the first aszú wine in 1630, and that the wine is mentioned in Hungary’s national anthem.

The grapes

The product specification allows six white grapes: Furmint, Hárslevelű, Kabar, Kövérszőlő, Sárgamuskotály (Yellow Muscat) and Zéta. According to Wikipedia, Furmint covers about 60% of the vineyards and Hárslevelű about 30%. The specification notes that these grapes keep high acidity as they ripen, which is why even very sweet Tokaji, often with 100 to 250 g/L of sugar, doesn’t turn flat.

Tokaji Aszú: how it’s made

Aszú means grapes shriveled by noble rot. The specification describes aszú berries as shriveled, chocolate-brown on the outside, with a “fatty” texture, and requires that they be picked by hand, berry by berry, at harvest. They must reach at least 438.3 g of sugar per liter.

Under the current rules, Tokaji Aszú must be made by:

1. Soaking the aszú berries in must, partly fermented must, fermenting new wine or wine of the same vintage. Wikipedia describes the traditional way: the berries are trodden into a paste, and the liquid is poured over it and left for 24 to 48 hours.
2. Ageing the wine in wooden casks for at least 18 months.
3. Waiting to sell it until January 1 of the third year after the harvest.

The rules forbid adding sugar, raising the alcohol, adjusting the acidity or bottling outside the region. Every Aszú must also meet these analytical minimums:

Tokaji Aszú rule	Requirement
Residual sugar	At least 120 g/L
Actual alcohol	At least 9%
Total acidity	At least 6.0 g/L
Cask ageing	At least 18 months
Release	Not before January 1 of the third year after harvest

Puttonyos: what the number means today

A puttony is a harvest basket. Wikipedia explains that one held about 25 kg of aszú berries, and the grade of an Aszú was set by how many baskets went into a 136-liter gönc cask of base wine: more baskets, sweeter wine.

Over time the number became tied to sugar levels. Wikipedia’s Puttonyos article gives the old scale:

Old category	Residual sugar
3 puttonyos	60 g/L
4 puttonyos	90 g/L
5 puttonyos	120 g/L
6 puttonyos	150 g/L
Aszúeszencia	180 g/L
Eszencia	450 g/L

Wikipedia says the rules changed with the 2013 vintage: every Aszú now needs at least 120 g/L of sugar, and the minimum ageing changed from two years in barrel plus one in bottle to 18 months in barrel.

The current product specification (version 10, for grapes harvested after August 1, 2025) confirms the 120 g/L floor and keeps puttonyos only as an optional traditional term on Aszú labels. One condition is written into it: “6 puttonyos” may only appear on an Aszú with at least 150 g/L of residual sugar. In practice, that means a modern Aszú is at least as sweet as an old 5 puttonyos wine, whatever number the label shows, or even if it shows none.

Note: Wines made under the old rules followed the old scale, so a 3 or 4 puttonyos Aszú from before 2013 can be much less sweet than a current one.

Eszencia

Eszencia is the rarest Tokaji. The specification defines it as the juice that seeps from aszú berries under their own weight, without pressing, and becomes wine through only minimal fermentation. The rules allow no more than 6 liters from 100 kg of aszú berries and require:

• at least 450 g/L of residual sugar;
• an actual alcohol of only 1.2% to 8%;
• release no earlier than January 1 of the third year after the harvest.

Wikipedia says Eszencia usually has 500 to 700 g/L of sugar (over 900 g/L in 2000), an alcohol level that never rises above 5% to 6%, and can keep for 200 years or more. In our view, Eszencia is something to taste in tiny amounts, a spoonful or two, rather than a wine to drink by the glass.

Szamorodni, Fordítás and Máslás

Szamorodni is made from whole bunches that contain both aszú and healthy berries, rather than from hand-picked aszú berries. Wikipedia translates the name roughly as “self-grown” and says whether it ends up sweet or dry depends on how much noble rot the bunches had. The label must give the full name:

• Száraz Szamorodni (dry): at most 9 g/L of sugar, at least 12% alcohol and at least 24 months in wooden casks. Like Aszú, it can’t be sold before January 1 of the third year after the harvest.
• Édes Szamorodni (sweet): at least 60 g/L of sugar, at least 9% alcohol and at least 6 months in casks.

Fordítás is made by pouring must or wine over aszú paste that has already been pressed, and Máslás by pouring must or new wine over the lees of Aszú or Szamorodni. Both need at least 60 g/L of sugar and six months in casks, and, like Édes Szamorodni, can be sold from January 1 of the second year after the harvest. Tokaj also makes late harvest wines (késői szüretelésű, at least 45 g/L of sugar), dry white wines and bottle-fermented sparkling wine.

Style	Sugar (g/L)	Minimum cask ageing
Eszencia	450 or more	None set
Aszú	120 or more (150 for “6 puttonyos”)	18 months
Édes Szamorodni	60 or more	6 months
Fordítás, Máslás	60 or more	6 months
Late harvest	45 or more	None set
Száraz Szamorodni	9 or less	24 months

Source: Tokaj product specification, version 10.

Dry Furmint

Wikipedia credits István Szepsy’s single-vineyard dry wine from the 2000 vintage with sparking interest, followed by producers in the village of Mád in 2003.

Wine Folly describes dry Furmint as light-bodied, with high acidity, no tannin and 11.5–13.5% alcohol, with flavors of Meyer lemon, green apple, ginger, smoke and green pepper, and compares it to Riesling. It says Furmint can develop for 10 years or more. In our view, a dry Furmint is the best first bottle from Tokaj for anyone who likes crisp whites, because it shows the grape’s acidity so clearly. For how it compares with other whites, see our guide to the types of white wine.

How to read a Tokaji label

• “Tokaji Aszú” is the classic sweet wine. A puttonyos number (3 to 6) is optional; “6 puttonyos” guarantees at least 150 g/L of sugar.
• “Eszencia” is the free-run essence, extremely sweet and low in alcohol.
• “Száraz Szamorodni” is dry and “Édes Szamorodni” is sweet.
• “Furmint” or “Hárslevelű” on its own means a varietal white, which can be dry or sweeter. The specification requires the sugar level on the label of white wines with more than 18 g/L.
• The vintage is mandatory, and at least 85% of the grapes must come from that year.
• The bottle: Aszú, Eszencia, Szamorodni, Fordítás and Máslás must be bottled inside the region and sold only in the traditional Tokaji bottle, a clear, straight-sided glass bottle with a long neck.

Food pairing

Wine Folly admits that wines this sweet are hard to pair, and suggests foie gras, blue cheese and crème caramel for Tokaji Aszú. For dry Furmint, it suggests herb-crusted poultry or fish and delicate Asian dishes such as sushi and dumplings.

Tokaji style	Try it with
Dry Furmint	Herb-crusted chicken or fish, sushi, dumplings (Wine Folly)
Száraz Szamorodni	Nuts, aged hard cheese, soups (our suggestion)
Aszú	Foie gras, blue cheese, crème caramel (Wine Folly)
Eszencia	On its own, a spoonful after dinner (our suggestion)

We’d add fruit tarts and apricot desserts for Aszú, as long as the dessert is less sweet than the wine. Our guide to wine and cheese pairing explains why sweet wine and blue cheese work so well together.

Good-value Tokaji

We don’t name specific Tokaji bottles on this page yet. Our picks follow how we rate wine: every wine needs a published critic score for a named vintage and a US price checked at two or more retailers, and for sweet wines in small bottles we compare prices per 750 ml. We haven’t completed that check for a Tokaji.

What to look for: in our view, dry Furmint and late harvest Tokaji are where the region gives the most for the money, while Aszú and Eszencia are wines to buy for a special occasion.

How to serve Tokaji

• Temperature: Wine Folly suggests 45–55°F (7–12°C) for both Aszú and dry Furmint.
• Glass: a dessert wine glass for Aszú, a white wine glass for Furmint; Wine Folly says neither needs decanting.
• Aging: Wine Folly gives Aszú a cellaring potential of 10 years or more.

Similar wines

Tokaji’s closest relative is Bordeaux’s Sauternes, the other great noble-rot wine, made mostly from Sémillon. Ice wine is sweet too, but its sugar comes from grapes frozen on the vine rather than from noble rot.