Whats The “Puttonyos” Number on a Bottle of Hungarian Tokaji Wine Mean?
Tokaji (Tokay in English) is a Hungarian wine, most often made from Furmint grapes in a very sweet style (Azsu) that is often compared to Sauternes or Barsac. Its relative sweetness is indicated by the number of “Puttonyos” – from 2 to 6 – as indicated on the label. These days the number is based on the sugar content in the mature wine, but historically this number represented the number of baskets containing a paste or mash of these very sweet, concentrated grapes that was added to a Gonc, a standard-sized fermentation vat. The more Puttonyi, the sweeter the wine. It’s a very nice dessert wine that you should try, and compare with other premium sweet wines.