Wine & Spirits - Fall 2022 - 68

Top 100 Wineries
HUNGARY | TOKAJ
Royal Tokaji
Luck and expertise came together in 2017 for one of Royal Tokaji's
best vintages ever.
ZOlTaN KOlVaCS
one oF the FIrst estates to rIse From the
ashes of communism, Royal Tokaji has led
the charge in reinstating Tokaji's reputation
as one of the world's greatest wines.
The initial charge was led by Hugh Johnson,
who gathered a group of investors and
growers to launch the project in 1990. The
first decade was mainly about getting reacquainted
with Tokaji, says Charles Mount,
Managing Director. Guided by a vineyard
classification from the 1700s, the team
focused on five top vineyards, each now bottled
separately to showcase different aspects
of Tokaji's varied terroir. In 2017, the estate
had two great strokes of luck: The first was
an exceptional vintage, with abundant and
high-quality botrytis. The second was hiring
on Zoltán Kovács, who had made the wines
at Disznókó, another legendary estate, for
12 years. Kovacs instigated some changes,
fermenting the single-vineyard wines in barrels
rather than tanks in hope of gaining
more complexity and integration; he also
aged them large barrels (300 and 500 liters)
to retain fruit clarity. The results speak for
themselves. -T.Q.T.
2017 Tokaji Aszú Nyulászó 6 Puttonyos
($135/500ml, 97 points) All the single-parcel
wines are exceptional in 2017, but if one shows
off what sets these wines apart, it's Nyulászó.
From a warm, red volcanic slope, the wine clocks
in at 203 grams per liter of residual sugar. A
deep, earthy spice underlines the honeyed fruit
the way a tuba fills out the sweeter sounds of
an orchestra; a touch of burnt-sugar bitterness
adds a balancing edge. The flavors last for minutes,
full and resonant.
FOUNDED:
1990
OWNER:
Damon de Laszlo
WINEMAKER:
Zoltán Kovács
VITICULTURIST:
Péter Majoros
ACRES OWNED:
310
IMPORTER:
Wilson Daniels,
Napa, CA
68
2017 Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Gold Label
($65/500ml, 95 points) A selection of
botrytized furmint from across the estate's 321
acres of vines, this is prodigiously sweet, yet
the wine carries itself with an almost jaunty
ease. Floral notes and crunchy acidity buoy the
roasted peach notes, the lively balance making
it exceptionally versatile.
2019 Tokaji Vineyard Selection Dry Furmint
($27, 93 points) Royal Tokaji does dry wines
well, too, as this 2019 shows. Selected from the
estate's first-growth vineyards and vinified in
large Hungarian oak barrels, it's rich and savory,
its pear fruit underlined with the earthy spice
typical of wines from this volcanic landscape. It's
elegant wine, deserving of a swirl in a decanter
before serving with a pork roast.
WINE & SPIR IT S
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ITALY | BASILICATA
Elena Fucci
Elena Fucci's lively aglianicos are breathing new life into Basilicata.
ElENa FUCCI
In the late 1960s, Generoso 'roso' FuccI
bought a choice aglianico vineyard in Contrada
Solagna del Titolo, 2,100 feet up the
slope of Vulture, Basilicata's extinct volcano.
The family sold its fruit to local producers
until Roso's granddaughter, Elena, started
making her own wine in 2004. A trained
oenologist, she began bottling just one wine,
Titolo, which quickly gained a following as
a fresh and lively expression of aglianico.
Fucci uses relatively short fermentations
in temperature controlled stainless steel
tanks to retain primary fruit aromas and
avoid overextraction of tannins. She began
experimenting with amphorae and found
that, rather than amplifying aglianico's naturally
brusque tannins, the vessels sharpened
the wine's freshness and minerality;
that experiment led to Titolo by Amphora,
first released in the 2017 vintage. She continues
to make refinements, investing in a
meteorological detection system last year
that precisely monitors the vines, allowing
her to minimize interventions and promote
healthier plants even in increasingly stressful
climatic conditions. -S.J.
2019 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo by
Amphora ($87, 94 points) Fucci selects fruit
from her oldest vines and ferments the berries
whole in an untreated 700-liter terracotta
amphora. The result is a vibrant, thyme-scented
aglianico, its pure flavors of sour cherry and
crunchy black plum chased with lively acidity as
the wine gains notes of loam and graphite.
FOUNDED:
2000
OWNER/WINEMAKER/
VITICULTURIST:
Elena Fucci
ACRES OWNED:
22; 19 planted
ANNUAL PRODUCTION:
3,200 cases
ESTATE GROWN:
100%
IMPORTER:
Enotec, Denver, CO
2019 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo ($58, 93
points) This is the wine Fucci started with in
2004. She ages the wine for one year in new
French oak barriques, where its dark plum and
raspberry flavors develop notes of spice and
tapenade. Its dense tannins and dried-fruit notes
give a more earthbound and brooding impression
than her amphora-aged aglianico, suited for
braised meat or savory stews.
2019 Aglianico del Vulture Sceg ($33, 91
points) In 2016, Fucci began making a small
quantity of wine from an old plot belonging to
friends of her grandfather, selling the wine off
in bulk while working to resuscitate the vines.
Finally, in the 2018 vintage, she was ready to
release her first vintage of Sceg, a local word for
pomegranate, symbol of fertility and good luck.
More rustic than her other two wines, this 2019
Sceg bristles with rocky tannins that encase flavors
of juicy blackberry and raspberry.
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