2017 Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos Nyulaszo

Nyulászó means rabbit catcher/hare catcher. The wine finished fermentation in Hungarian oak barrels and then spent two years in barrel in the cellar. TA 7.73, pH 3.48, RS 203 g/l.  Smells just like sweet box on a cold moonlit winter night – the bouquet literally fills the air! Pure perfume, pure petals. The faintest stencil of vetiver. Pressed apple, dried apricot, dried pears, ginger syrup and petals petals petals. Jasmine, blueberry juice, cherry sherbet. The purity of a cello alone in a cathedral. Like sunrise through a stained glass window. (TC)

All the candied fruits you'd expect plus a kingdom of flowers adding complexity and lift. What a wine! This lines up all the expectations and knocks them out of the park. It's Fred Astaire, but backwards and in heels, as the adage goes. Incredible. (RH)

The 2017 Tokaji Nyulászó 6-Puttonyos comes from vines on brown volcanic soils overlooking the town of Mád. This has a lighter and perhaps less complex bouquet compared to Royal Tokaji's other cuvées, though it develops nicely in the glass to reveal lemon verbena, dried mango and wild peachy scents. The palate is much more open, its impressive weight and concentration effortlessly counterbalanced by a fine line of acidity. This is very harmonious and poised, and almost Sauternes-like toward the finish. Give it 5–8 years in the cellar to allow those aromas to open. 5,541 bottles produced.