Before the impending March arrival of two defining Szepsy wines, the 2007 Urbán Furmint and Király Hárslevelű, we collected all the essential information about the production site, vintages and wines with the help of István Szepsy himself. We provide the opportunity for you to get to know and taste them, while in February we also offer you a special discount when you pre-order them.
Description of vintages (dry wines)
2006 lean, mineral, complex (mostly run out, with just a few bottles left in stock link)
2007 southern, dense, sensual (arrival: March 2010)
2008 sophisticated, lean, complex (expected arrival: March 2011)
2009 promising (expected arrival: 2012)
The 2007 vintage in detail
As winter was practically over by the beginning of 2007, bud burst came very early, by the end of March. In April, we had to spray, and by May grapes were blossoming on the Király vineyard, which was unprecedented in living memory. The great heat put the vines to the test but they survived. The cool September slowed down the ripening, but by October healthy, ripe grapes were collected without a single grape afflicted with botrytis, and all the fruit was put into the cellar within half an hour of being picked.
The outcome is southern style wines that are dynamic, exciting and fiery, yet somehow mild, with less acidity than usual. They can be consumed right after aeration, although we predict a long life for them.
Important: do not over-chill them, since their ideal serving temperature is 11-12 degrees Centigrade.
Szepsy Urbán Furmint 2007
Wine region: Tokaj | Grape variety: Furmint, from 40 to 79 year old vines | Vineyard: Urbán 1.5 ha | Soil: very stony, zeolite and clay | Harvest: beginning of October, only ripe & healthy bunches | Processing: de-stemming, crushing, pressing, soaking for 6 hours | Fermentation: in barrel, spontaneous fermentation, by using natural yeast, apple-acid neutralisation | Ageing: 50% in 400-litre new and 50% in 500-litre third-filled barrels (Hungarian oak) | Bottling: July 23, 2008 | Bottle ageing: 1.5 years before going on sale | Alcohol: 14.38% | Residual sugar: 4.0 g/l (dry) | Acid content: 5.0 g/l | Production: 2100 bottles
The Urbán Vineyard
Area: 13 ha / Szepsy 4.5 ha / under plantation 3 ha / to be used: 1.5 ha
Proportioned, small parcels, on which the age of the grapes range between 40 and 79 years. In other words we are talking about wines that come from vines that were planted in 1931.
The soil of the single-vineyard is special because the clay content is different in the stony, quartz-rich, zeolite soil. As there is a kind of "Úrágya" quality and personality in all the wines from the Úrágya vineyard, the same can be said about the Urbán vineyard - with the sole difference that we can only taste Szepsy wines from here.
The wine
Besides the characteristic mineral notes of the vineyard, it's also the distinctiveness of the vintage that makes it special: it's a very intensive, round, long, unctuous wine.
The 2007 vintage from the Urbán vineyard will be only the second vintage available commercially.
Szepsy Király Hárslevelű 2007
Wine region: Tokaj | Grape variety: Hárslevelű, planted in 1992 | Vineyard: Király 6.0 ha | Soil: stony, gravel, red zeolite and clay | Harvest: beginning of October, only ripe & healthy bunches | Processing: de-stemming, crushing, gentle pressing, soaking for 6 hours | Fermentation: in barrel, spontaneous fermentation, by using natural yeast, partial apple-acid neutralization | Ageing: 50% in 400-litre new and 50% in 500-litre third-filled barrels (Hungarian oak) | Bottling: July 24, 2008 | Bottle aging: 1.5 years before going on sale | Alcohol: 14.67% | Residual sugar: 1.5 g/l (dry) | Acid content: 5.8 g/ l Production: 5000 bottles
The Király Vineyard
Area: 30 ha / Szepsy 7.2 ha / under plantation 6 ha
One of the most famous vineyards of Tokaj, where besides the young grapes we should talk about its soil and situation in detail. The granular red zeolite, stony soil contains less clay, therefore it has low water retention, and warms up quickly which forces the roots of the grapes into deeper layers.
The wine
It has more Király vineyard notes than characteristics of the Hárslevelű grape. The completely ripened grapes, the low yield and the partial apple-acid neutralisation delivered a fruity, lively, well-proportioned, full wine. The acids are not at all sharp; it's already extremely pleasant to drink.
2010. february 01.
