“150 bottles of 1956 vintage Tokaji Aszú from the cellars of the National Wine Treasury in Tolcsva are to be rebottled to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. Work began on Wednesday and the procedure is unique even by international standards”, Ministerial Commissioner for Wine Sector Development Eliza Kiss told Hungarian news agency MTI.
“In 1956, the wine harvest began on 22 October and work progressed throughout the Revolution”, she recalled. The National Wine Treasury, which includes some 300 thousand bottles of Tokaji Aszú and other vintage wines dating back to 1865, is owned by the Ministry of Agriculture and is stored in Tolcsva. “Rebottling of this kind and in such quantitates has never before been performed in Hungary, and is a unique task even by international standards”, the Ministerial Commissioner added.
Mr. Kiss told reporters that the Tokaji wines would be receiving new bottles during an extremely rigorous procedure, as well as a new image to suit the commemoration year. The wines are first assessed for quality by the National Sommelier Committee, after which the wine’s origin is certified using analytical methods under the strict supervision of the National Food Chain Safety Office’s Directorate for Wines and Alcoholic Beverages. The work is performed under strictly laboratory conditions. Preparations have been going on for almost five months; re-bottling occurs regularly, but the current process is unique with regard to quantity and the extremely high quality and value of the wine in question, she explained.
1956 was a fantastic year for wine, similarly to 1947 and 1972, which gave rise to what are often referred to as the wines of the century, she added. The Ministerial Commissioner also stressed that the rebottling of the wines is also a “pilot programme”. There are currently some 300 thousand bottles stored in the cellars of the National Wine Treasury in Tolcsva, and an expected decision on the part of the Government could mean the rebottling of further large lots of wine beginning next year.
President of the National Sommelier Committee András Horkay told reporters: Our task is to determine whether the wines destined for rebottling are pure or contaminated lots. “We open each bottle, smell it, check the state of the cork and then taste it. This is followed by filtering and stabilising, after which the wine receives its new, commemorative exterior”, he detailed.
Deputy Director of the National Food Chain Safety Office’s Directorate for Wines and Alcoholic Beverages Gábor Barátossy explained that the 1956 wines are also undergoing thorough testing in the Office’s analytical laboratory, including the determination of their precise origin.