1993 Château Pajzos Tokaji Esszencia

Located in the heart of the Tokaji region on slopes surrounding the famous wine village of Sarospatak, Chateau Pajzos "represents one of the world's great terroirs for producing exceptional white wines". The property's volcanic soils, ideal altitude of 200 meters, and South/South-West orientation rate its vineyards amongst the finest in Tokaj. Also, the vineyards' location between the Bodrog and Tisza rivers make it ideal for attaining noble rot, indispensible for making the finest sweet Aszu wines.

The Tokaji wines are a blend of mostly Furmint, Hárslevelu ("linden's leaf"), Muscat de Lunel and Zéta. A base dry white wine is first made (Chateau Pajzos uses the Dry Furmint they produce), then mixed with Aszu berries (botrytised, shriveled grapes that were originally picked from bunches into 20 liter wooden tubs called puttony). During harvest, it can take up to 30 passages in the vineyards to pick them at the perfect time, as Chateau Pajzos only selects fully botrytised -not just passerille- grapes. Traditionally, the concentration of the Tokaji was defined by the number of puttony added to the base. Nowadays, the "Puttonyos" is based on the content of residual sugar in the final wine. It takes about 44 pounds of Azsu berries mixed with 100 liters of base wine to reach 1 Puttonyos. At Chateau Pajzos, the Tokaji are aged a minimum of 2 years in Hungarian oak (less than 20% new) and one year in bottle before release. They are only made in the best vintages. They are looking for freshness in their sweet wines, as opposed to other houses promoting a more oxidative style.