Gallery: harvest in Tokaj, Hungary, picking the unique aszú berries
Here’s a gallery of images shot in Tokaj, during vintage a few years back at leading producer Disznókő. What’s fascinating about this harvest is how labour-intensive it is. Tokaji Aszú is a unique style of sweet wine, made from a combination of fresh grapes and specially harvested aszu berries, which are produced by a combination of botrytis and drying. These shrivelled berries are harvested one by one from affected bunches, as only some of the berries become aszú berries, while the rest remain intact. They are kept separate. The free run juice from these is extremely high in sugar and makes the Eszencia, a low alcohol wine of immense sweetness and character. The aszú berries need to be macerated with fermenting wine in order to extract all the sweetness and goodness, and this is a critical stage in the making of Tokaji.
