Demeter Zoltan

Zoltan Demeter is a legend in the making, if he has not already earned that status, determined to prove that Tokaj is one of the world’s great wine districts, albeit one that lost its way somewhat during the communist era in the 20th century. Istvan Stepsy led the way out of the darkness some 25 years ago, but it is Zoltan who seems destined to be the star of his own generation in his quest to send any pseudo-traditions into oblivion and rediscover the true tradition that first established the reputation of the region. He will always, I suspect, and indeed hope, remain a very small grower, but his effort and energy will prove to have been a vital force in the renaissance of Tokaj. He farms some seven hectares out of the 4500 that make up the Tokaj wine field today, but his vineyards are very far from contiguous. His policy has been to buy vines that are over 40 years old in sites that have, or used to have, a good track record. This rediscovery and regeneration of specific ‘terroirs’ is fundamental to his thinking. In my most recent tasting in his cellar, following an extensive tour of the actual vineyards, we were able to compare the result of Furmint from Veres, Kakas, Holdvölgy, Boda and Lapis. Hàrslevelü from Szerelmi and Muskat from Őszhegy. The fame of Tokaj as a region has been built on the reputation of its sublime sweet wines, the legendary Aszu and Essenzia. The occasions for drinking dessert wines however are far less frequent than for drinking dry wines and it is hard for a small grower to survive on the precarious production and uncertain demand for even great sweet wines. Zoltan Demeter therefore took the decision to make 75% of his wines dry and focus on preserving the individual identities of each single vineyard. The remaining 25% of his production is destined for dessert wine, some of it is the Aszu style of highly botrytised grapes and the rest in the style called Föbor, a late harvest wine made from a single pressing of very sweet, but not necessarily botrytised grapes, a practice that Zoltan considers less contrived and artificial than that for the Aszu wine, and I share his preference for the style. These are all wines of extreme originality.