Royal Tokaji Late Harvest (Small Format Bottle) 2018 (500ml)

Pale gold color with delicate citrus and spicy aromas. Light and refreshing on the palate with hints of white peach and honey. It has an excellent acid balance, a smooth, silky texture and a clean, long, crisp finish.

Delicious on its own, as an aperitif, or with spicy cuisine such as Thai, fresh fruits, or any fruit-based dessert.

Shortly after the start of the new millennium, the genuine shortage of aszú (botrytis) harvests and the limited volumes even in those vintages led us to explore other opportunities. We researched ways of producing more accessible, but equally vibrant, wines of around 100 g/L (equivalent to a 4 puttonyos sweetness). Late Harvest relies on partial bunch selection, which naturally includes ripe, overripe and botrytised berries. This combination of different ripening stages of the berries inside the bunch gives a distinctive Tokaji character but does not require the long ageing of aszú wines. 

The harvested clusters are then pressed and the rich must fermented in the same manner as the dry wines, maintaining a balance of sugar and natural acidity. The Late Harvest matures in Hungarian Zemplen oak barrels for 6 months. As with all Royal Tokaji wines, quality, house style and balance is the focus.

This amber-colored late-harvest wine from Tokaj has aromas of honeycomb and white flowers, especially jasmine and freesia. In the mouth, it has nice fruit sweetness and flavors of clover honey, ripe apricot and yellow peach. -J.J.