On the picture H.E Mr. András Kocsis, Ambassador of Hungary.
Tokaj, the one and only – Master class on the world renowned wine region of Hungary
By Michael Bonté.
Once again the Embassy of Hungary, Diplomatic Card, Diplomat Magazine and the Carlton Ambassador Hotel presented a wine extravaganza on 23 November 2017 with a whopping selection of eleven different wines.
All from the most famous Hungarian wine region Tokaj, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has an unique terroir and grape varieties only found in Hungary. The guests were in for a treat.
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The venue was the cosy bar area of the hotel. The attendees were a mix of Dutch wine experts and importers, gastronomic journalists and representatives of the catering industry (Horeca in Dutch) among them was Mr Merlijn Keijzer, Manager of VIP Lounge Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Ms Helma de Veer from a company called De Freule’, which specializes in (wine) gifts to business acquaintances.
The owner of Hungarian Corner restaurant in The Hague Mr Marco van den Boomgaard said: “We only recently also created a winebar so that our guests can try all kinds of Magyar wines.”
H.E Mr. András Kocsis, Ambassador of Hungary, opened the session saying: “By targeting all Dutch companies which sell wine we hope to gain more recognition of Hungarian wines in order to generate more sales in The Netherlands.
We have undertaken a very exiting task with my colleagues this evening, because contrary to the previous practice when we introduced selections from different wines regions, we have now focused on one particular wine region Tokaj.”
He then introduced our host of the night, Mr Kristian Kielmayer, DipWSET wine expert at the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture. He had compiled a list of eleven fine white wines offered by ten Hungarian wineries for the enjoyment of the guests. Meanwhile Mr Kielmayer accompanied the wines with more information and tasting notes on them.
“What does it have to offer, why is it special. For centuries, kings, queens and nobles have liked, adored these wines; it has its myth, its history. The Tokaij Aszú, is one of the world’s most fantastic, maybe the best sweet wine and this evening our guests had the chance to experience why this wine region is special, why the wine, the people, the history and the soil are special. It is due to the conditions, the nature, and of course, what lies in the future.”
The invitees certainly had a long list of white wines to taste. It kicked off with a Brut Sparkling wine from Patricius Winery. Followed by Furmint Bio 2016 from Tokaj Hétszolo Winery, No 8 Cuvée Hárslevelu Kassai Vineyard 2015 from Grand Tokaji Winery, Tokajhárslevelu Kassai 2015 from Kikelet Winery, Chateau Dereszla Tokaj Dry 2015 from Dereszla Winery, Öreg Király Dulo Furmint 2015 from Barta Winery.
Then the sweeter whites were introduced starting with: Late Harvest 2013 from Tokaj Oremus, Szamorodni 6 Puttonyas 2014 from Degenfeld Winery, Puttonyos 5 aszú 2013 from Royal Tokaj Winery, Puttonyos 6 Aszú 2013 from Grand Tokaj Winery and last but not least a magnificient Puttonyos 6 Aszú 2009 from Árvay Pincészet. The last wine was provided by Mr Gert de Kruijf from De Kruijf Fine Food Services as he was the only one who still had this particular beautiful vintage in his cellar.
The wines certainly displayed the finesse and complexity of the Tokaj region deserving a wider public.
After all that imbibing the guests needed a snack and they were treated to a small buffet of, prepared by the Chef de Cuisine of the Hungarian Embassy Mr János Klimay, a hearty richly filled Palóc style lamb soup and a Vargabéles a filopastry pie filled with slightly sweet cottage cheese served with apricot jam.
Many guests remarked this had been an excellent edition of the Hungarian Embassy wine presentation and hoped that they would be treated again next year to this event. As Ambassador Kocis said “According to the feedback received from the public, I think that Tokaj was a hit.”
