This is the most famous grape and wine producing region in Hungary, it is well known worldwide.

Even
though the viniculture in this area is a thousand years old, it only became world famous in the 17th
century, when the Tokaj Aszú, a remarkable rare phenomenon resulting from typically late harvesting and
special manufacturing processes, achieved recognition as "the king of wines, the wine of kings" in the
court of Louis 14th, but was also well-liked by the court of the Tsar and Polish nobility. The climate there
is sub-continental. The soils of this area are very varied. The most important grape varieties of the region
are Furmint and Hárslevelű!!! Apart from these Sárga Muscar and Zéta (formerly Oremus), are also
recommended, other varieties cannot be grown there. There are three main categories of wine:

Generic Wines: These are 50-60 per cent of the total production, processed using the tradational white
winw making technology (Furmint, Hárslevelű, Sárga Muscat). These varieties are especially suitable to
be made into the wines produced from late harvesting.

Szamorodni: The name Syamorodni - meaning "as it was born" - is of Polish origin, given to it by Polish
merchants. Szamorodni is a wine in which both the noblerot (Aszú) grape and the clean bunches are
processed together. Szamorodni can be sweet or dry, depending on the quantity of unfermented sugar. It is
a popular aperitif in Hungary.

Aszú: Azsú is made by individually picking the noblerot (azsú) grapes from the bunch. These are
collected separately and mixed with must or young wine, pressed and fermented. Harvests occur quite late
in the season, as the grapes which are planted are all late ripeners. Often picking is prolonged until mid-
November. In fact, in keeping with practice in other great dessert wine regions, there are multiple
harvests. One is done by hand in sections of the vineyard targeted for sweet wine production, with
shriveled botrytized grapes collected separately and stored in tubes. These are vineyards where over half
of the grapes are fully botrytis-affected. A grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea or Botrytis affects wine grapes.
The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of infections. The first, grey rot, is the result of consistently
wet or humid conditions, and typically results in the loss of the affected bunches. The second, noble rot,
occurs when drier conditions follow wetter, and can result in distinctive sweet dessert wines. Another
takes place in areas where there is a lesser degree of infection with the mold; these vines are harvested
with botrytis-affected and unaffected grapes mixed together. A third harvest only contains healthy grapes.
Each of the three harvests corresponds to the production of a different style of wine. The great dessert
wines which have established the fame of the region, Tokaj Azsú, are made with a combination of wines
from the fully botrytis-affected and partly affected harvests. In some years no Aszú wines can be made, as
the climatic conditions are not ideal for the development of botrytis.

In Hegyalja the wine cellars are often hundreds of years old - sometimes with more than one level - and
hidden in the rocks. The temperature of the cellars hardly changes, staying at around 11 C. The high
humidity and the chemicals from the wines fermenting in the barrels feed the fungus colonies on the walls
of the cellars, these often make a continious layer. The fungus also guarantees a good climate in the
cellars.