Tokaj Gold in the bottle: the thousand-year history of the Tokaj wine region
Roots in the mists of time: from the beginnings to the Middle Ages
The viticultural culture of Tokaj-Hegyalja dates back well before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. According to archaeological findings, both the Celts and the Romans already cultivated grapes here, taking advantage of the protected slopes of the volcanic hills. When the Hungarian tribes arrived at the end of the 9th century, chronicles suggest they found an already flourishing viticultural landscape in the region.
During the Middle Ages, the development of the wine region was significantly accelerated by Walloon and Italian vine growers settled by the Árpád dynasty (reflected in place names such as Olaszliszka). They brought not only more advanced cultivation techniques but also new grape varieties; tradition holds that the region’s main variety today, Furmint, was introduced through their influence.
The miracle of aszú and the Ottoman era
The true rise of Tokaj wine dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries, paradoxically one of the most turbulent periods in Hungarian history. During the Ottoman occupation, constant military campaigns often delayed the harvest until late autumn. This necessity led to a remarkable discovery: grapes left on the vine, affected by noble rot (Botrytis cinerea) and shrivelling into raisins, could produce an exceptionally rich and sweet wine.
Although romantic legend attributes the creation of Tokaji aszú to the Reformed preacher Szepsi Laczkó Máté—who is said to have first made it in 1630 for Lorántffy Zsuzsanna—modern research shows that the term “aszú grapes” already appeared in a 1571 document among the inheritance records of the Garay family.
On the thrones of Europe: the golden age
The 18th century brought Tokaj its true golden era. Tokaji wine became one of the most important diplomatic tools of Transylvanian princes, especially II. Rákóczi Ferenc, who sent large quantities to King Louis XIV of France, from whom the famous phrase originates: “Vinum regum, rex vinorum”—the wine of kings, the king of wines.
Tokaji wine was also greatly admired by Peter the Great and Empress Catherine II of Russia. The Russian court valued it so highly that a permanent military unit—the imperial wine procurement commission—was stationed in Tokaj to secure supplies and ensure safe transport to Saint Petersburg.
The world’s first closed wine region
Growing fame and demand inevitably led to counterfeiting, making strict regulation necessary. In 1737, by royal decree of Charles III, Tokaj-Hegyalja became the world’s first officially defined closed wine region.
The decree precisely defined the 27 settlements where Tokaji wine could be produced and introduced strict production regulations. This was later complemented by the classification of vineyard sites (linked to the work of Mátyás Bél and János Matolai), dividing the region into first-, second-, and third-class vineyards—more than a century before the famous Bordeaux classification of 1855.
