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Tokaj wine tell-all

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Tokaji Aszú is so profound that it's easy to forget that the region of Tokaj produces other good wines as well. They include dry to medium-dry table wines, usually labeled by grape variety (for example, Tokaji Furmint), as well as Tokaji Szamorodni (its name means "as it grew"), which may be sweet or dry, depending on the amount of botrytised Aszú grapes harvested with fresh grapes.The proportion depends on the harvest and therein its name. By contrast, the botrytised grapes that are used to make Tokaji Aszú are painstakingly selected. These grapes are crushed and added to a base wine made of unbotrytised grapes. This addition is measured in puttonyos in a number ranging from one to six, with six as the sweetest, most concentrated wine. Even more rich and intense, however, is Esszencia, made in minute amounts from Aszú grapes. The sugar content of this wine is so high that it barely ferments.