« The Tokaj people opened their door to me. I kept listening to them without saying a word. »
Extreme, complex, honey, quince, dried apricots, beeswax, incredible length… Strange, impressive, fascinating Tokaj that travels through the centuries and jumps through the borders ! Captivated tsars, kings in love, queens conquered, but also writers, composers, amateurs and, of course, Hungarian themselves, know ever since that Tokaj is different from all other wines
It is thanks to the Aszù, this small grape full of mystery, picked berry after berry since the XVIIth Century by women and men who live there. We were fascinated by this small berry ! We, a French family, decided to stay here in the region at the furthermost bounds of Hungary. Samuel fell into an Aszù barrique in 1991, just after the political changes. In 1993, interviewed him in the middle of the harvest. He was at that time director of the first joint-venture of the Tokaj wine area. He learnt very quickly to speak the language but also to select the best Aszù berries, to recognize the First growth in the vineyards, to communicate with all the actors of the region, previous winemakers of the State Farm, artisans and mayors of the villages…
Then we traveled. We traveled all around the world, Samuel as a winemaker, I as a journalist. In 1998, Samuel bought a house with a cellar in Olaszliszka, in the heart of the region. At our wedding, a year later, we poured to our family and friends a 1981 Tokaji Aszù. Tokaj never left us. In 2000, the vines were full of Aszù berries. Samuel declared : “These grapes, I want them in my cellar !” Everything started at that very point.