Eastern Europe

Contents
  1. Hungary
  2. Bulgaria
  3. Romania
  4. Slovenia and Croatia
  5. Czech Republic and Slovakia
  6. The Russian Federation
  7. Former Soviet Republics
  8. Review Quizzes

Hungary

In the northeastern corner of Hungary, at the confluence of the Tisza and Bodrog Rivers, producers in the Tokaj region (formerly Tokaj-Hegyalja, or the Tokaj “foothills”) have long been crafting some of Europe’s most exemplary and longest-lived dessert wines.


Vineyards in Tokaj

The region was one of the first in modern Europe to undergo a vineyard classification; in 1700, the Transylvanian Prince Rákóczy delimited 28 villages in the region, inaugurating a golden age for the wine that would last through the next two centuries. Some sources alternatively date Tokaj’s classification to 1730, with a final legal recognition in 1772—definitive evidence of the 1700 classification remains elusive. Aszú grapes are a fundamental component of the best Tokaji wines; although the term originally signified desiccated grapes, it has evolved to indicate grapes of high sugar levels afflicted with botrytis cinerea—the noble rot. Aszú appears in works published as early as 1571, and Szepsi Laczkó Máté definitively produced botrytis-affected aszú wine by the mid-17th century. Thus, the aszú wines of Tokaj predated the botrytised wines of Germany, and probably Sauternes as well. Legend attributes the mid-16th century declaration—“These wines are fit for a pope”—to either Pope Julius III or Pope Pius IV, and King Louis XIV of France praised Tokaji as (another) “wine of kings and king of wines” during his 17th century reign. Catherine the Great of Russia enjoyed Tokaji so emphatically that she left a permanent detachment of her Cossack guard in Tokaj to guard royal shipments, whereas the 19th century Queen Victoria of England received an annual birthday gift of a dozen bottles, courtesy of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor. Unfortunately, the

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