This year's Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Trophy for Hungarian Sweet over £15 went to Béres, Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos, Tokaj 2008 (10.5%)
Tasted against:
- Chateau Dereszla, Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, Tokaj 2008
- Château Pajzos, Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, Tokaj 2006
- Sauska, Birtok Hárslevel˝u, Tokaj 2012
Profile:
Melinda Regeczy-Beres freely admits the winemaking heritage of her family is on the light side: ‘Our original business lies in the pharmaceutical industry and we do not have any roots in Tokaj, but we were captured by its beauty and fame. Furthermore, my family have always been wine lovers and so we jumped at the chance to start a winery in Tokaj.’
It was in 2002 that the opportunity presented itself, with Regeczy-Beres’ parents buying a 100-hectare estate; 45ha of this is devoted to vines. The first vintage was in 2003 and the family has since assembled a dedicated, experienced team, as well as building an award-winning winery in 2006, designed by Australian Anthony Gall.
The vineyards are not all of the same maturity; 10ha were planted in 1982 while the rest were planted by the Béres family between 2004 and 2005. Plantings are entirely of traditional Tokaj grapes, mainly Furmint.
The vineyards are in a cool area of the Tokaj region, hence it can take slightly longer to achieve the level of botrytis necessary for premium wines; however the soil is volcanic, which brings with it great natural acidity.
Béres made 10,000 bottles of this Trophy-winner, which accounts for roughly 10% of its total production.
Written by Decanter
