Vertical wine tasting offers a rare and exceptional opportunity to deeply understand our wines and philosophy. What makes this experience so special? Let’s uncover the secrets as we explore further.

Understanding Vertical Tasting

Vertical tasting invites us to savor wines from the same winery, sharing a common name but originating from different vintages. It’s a unique opportunity to witness how the interplay of vintage nuances, weather fluctuations, and winemaking philosophies crafts distinct personalities year after year. This immersive experience provides firsthand insight into the captivating evolution of wines as they mature gracefully in their bottles. The tasting adventure usually kicks off with younger wines, paving the way to delve into more complex and mature flavors that await.

Unveiling the Tapestry of Challenges

Behind each vintage lies a tapestry of challenges—hailstorms, frost, droughts, or unexpected weather whims, all woven into the final product. Even localized natural disasters can shape the destiny of a specific vintage. The allure of vertical tasting lies in its ability to unravel the seemingly random variables concealed within the term „vintage.” Vertical wine tasting isn’t just a journey through flavors; it’s an odyssey through time, terroir, and craftsmanship. 

Not Merely the Traces of Changing Weather!

In a vertical tasting of wines crafted from the same vineyard-selected grape variety, the key difference among the wines lies in the fluctuating weather conditions between vintages, possibly accompanied by variations in winemaking practices like aging periods or barrel usage. If the winemaker applies consistent methods across these vintages, it becomes evident that the unique characteristics of individual years stem from the dynamic interplay of changing weather factors.

Turning to wines produced from the same grape variety but not sourced from a specific vineyard, winemakers are consistently endowed with more significant opportunities to craft wines year after year. Achieving this consistency involves blending different proportions of wines from diverse vineyards, each influenced by distinct vineyard characteristics such as orientation, steepness, and soil type, all affected by the shifting weather. Naturally, even in this scenario, weather-induced differences between vintages are evident but somewhat less pronounced than in vineyard-selected wines.

The winemaker enjoys utmost flexibility when blending, utilizing their expertise to adjust the ratios of various grape varieties. This artful maneuvering opens up many possibilities for harmonizing the stylistic disparities among vintages.

Discovering striking differences 

In the world of winemaking, a remarkable display of distinctive styles comes to life through the aszú wines meticulously crafted at Disznókő Estate. Every year, regardless of the unpredictable weather conditions, we passionately strive to create refined, exquisite, and complex wines.

When someone comes to our estate and tastes through a vertical selection of Disznókő wines, they are amazed to experience the consistent style of our aszú wines while also noticing the distinctive structural and personality differences stemming from the characteristics of each vintage. The diverse orientations and traits of the parcels within our contiguous 100-hectare domain infuse an unparalleled dimension into the tapestry of stylistic variations that span vintages.

Weather’s Artistry: A Vertical Tasting

A vertical aszú tasting at Disznókő vividly illustrates the impact of weather changes between vintages. However, even in so-called challenging vintages, the disciplined and professional work of the winery ensures that, while the quantity of our wines may fluctuate, sometimes significantly, their quality remains constant. Nevertheless, tasting different vintages reveals the exciting and comprehensive picture of the terroir, the winery’s concept of aszú wines, and each year’s uniqueness. The character of a particular vintage depends not only on the weather but also on when and how intensely botrytis and noble rot develop, when and at what pace we select the aszú berries, and during processing, how much grape we soak, for how long, and in what vessels we blend.

Eszencia – Symphony on the palate

If someone is genuinely interested in the stylistic differences caused by varying weather conditions, we recommend a vertical tasting of Eszencia. We capture a lucid snapshot of the year in the ethereal form of Eszencia, dripping from the aszú berries. No further intervention from the winemaker is needed. Each vintage’s Eszencia mirrors the meteorological conditions, the character of the terroir, and the viticulturist’s dedicated work, all encapsulated without subsequent modification.

What can we learn from it?

There are few other wine regions where the diversity and uniqueness of vintages leave such a distinct and recognizable mark on the wines. Especially Aszú wines showcase the differences between warm and cold, rainier years with remarkable clarity.

It is important to note that even the most accomplished vintners constantly learn. Each vintage enriches them with experiences that enable the continuous refinement of their winemaking style.

Hence, vertical tasting provides an exceptional experience, offering insights into the weather variations through vintages and the developmental trajectory of the winery and its wines. We can genuinely grasp a winery’s philosophy and perception of fine wine through vertical tasting. What heightens this experience is the timeless nature of aszú wines—liquid treasures that continue their metamorphosis within the bottle, awaiting the moment they are uncorked and savored.

You’re Invited: A Warm Welcome Awaits!

Enrich your visit with the pleasure of a wine tasting, and rest assured, an unforgettable experience awaits you! At the Wine Boutique, you will find all the bottled wines from Disznókő starting from the 1992 vintage. Explore our fresh, fruity, and aromatic wines and receive personalized advice for selecting wines based on your preferences. Discover the range of Disznókő wines and choose from our wine tastings – Disznókő Classic Tokaji Wine Selection, Eszencia Tasting, Vertical Aszú Tasting – or create your tasting lineup from our exquisite wines!

Both individual visitors and groups of up to fifty are warmly welcomed. To ensure a seamless experience, we kindly ask larger groups to make reservations in advance. If you have inquiries about visits and tastings, please get in touch with us at borbutik@disznoko.hu or call us at +36 30 2899 449. We eagerly anticipate your arrival on weekdays and weekends from 10:00 to 18:00. Come, indulge in the art of wine, and allow us to be your gracious hosts!