Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos by Château Dereszla

There are some wines—such as the Quinta do Noval Late Bottled Vintage Port—that lie outside my usual repertoire, and when I taste them I find them excellent and wonder whether they’re truly exceptional wines or if I’m simply overly impressed due to my limited mental catalogue of that style or region.

In the case of Château Dereszla’s Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, however, even though I’m no expert in sweet wines, it’s crystal clear that this is a top-level wine, capable of delighting the taster without ever feeling cloying.

Where it comes from, how it’s made

The Château Dereszla 2019 Aszú 5 Puttonyos has its roots in the historic heart of Hungary’s sweet-wine tradition: the splendid Tokaj-Hegyalja region, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here, volcanic soils, breezes from the Zemplén Mountains and the Bodrog River combine to create the ideal environment for the development of Edelfäule (the noble rot Botrytis cinerea) that gives Aszú wines their magic.

The 2019 Vintage

• Climate: 2019 delivered a hot, relatively dry summer, followed by well-timed autumn rains that encouraged controlled Botrytis development without excessive rot. Cool nights preserved the acidity—crucial for Tokaji’s longevity—while warm days allowed the grapes to concentrate sugars and aromas.
• Yield & Quality: Thanks to extremely selective harvests, Château Dereszla brought in just a few quintals per hectare—but of stellar quality: healthy grapes, perfectly shriveled by noble rot, averaging over 180 g/L of sugar in the must.

How a Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos is made

1. Late harvest & manual selection
   Each Aszú berry—“shrivelled” in Hungarian, owing to its noble-rot covering—is handpicked in successive passes (“botrized pickings”), discarding any imperfectly affected grapes.
2. Counting the “Puttonyos”
   Tradition classifies Tokaji Aszú by the number of Puttonyos: each “basket” (~25 kg of Aszú berries) added to 136 L of base must. For 5 Puttonyos, five baskets are used (the scale runs from 3 in the least concentrated Tokaji to 6).
3. Maceration & pressing
   After a short maceration, the blend is gently pressed; the resulting must is intensely sweet, concentrated and rich in reactive substances (polyphenols, glycerin, aromatic compounds).
4. Slow fermentation
   Initiated at low temperature to preserve floral aromas, it stops naturally when the high sugar content halts the yeasts, leaving about 150 g/L of residual sweetness.
5. Aging in Hungarian oak
   At least three years in 136 L barrels, in Dereszla’s cool cellars: a slow refinement that weaves together olfactory complexity (honey, apricot, sweet spices) and incisive freshness.

“Tokaji” is, of course, a hugely significant name in fine-wine circles—I know this well, as I adore Collio, and have seen its local white renamed from “Tocai” to “Friulano” after a dispute ended in the European Court of Justice. Furmint’s acidity is essential to this great wine, providing the backbone needed to balance sweetness and ensure a fresh, never cloying sip.

My impressions of Aszú 5 Puttonyos Château Dereszla

Tasting dates: February 20 – March 2, 2025
Pairing: foie gras

Aszú 5 Puttonyos Château Dereszla 2019
Color: vivid golden yellow
Wine’s identity: From a soft, creamy body, a live acidity emerges—first as a sparkling glint, then as a blade that cuts through the wine’s texture.
It all began with a deep and sensual nose of barrels in the cellar, white flowers, honey, roasted almonds and pineapple cake: so dignified in its provocative verticality! Then the body is rounded, tightly woven and almost creamy, with notes of lemon sherbet, mango and again wood from the cellar. It is then the Tokaji magic happens: the acidity pops out, at the beginning just like a shimmering that invigorates the sip and quickly after it becomes a blade that cuts through the texture of the wine. The finale is driven by this crazy wave that carries – and does not cover – nuances of caramelized apricot. The contrast between the perfect concentration of fruit, sweetness, sexy body and the powerful, focused acidity is what makes this wine an exceptional one. The foie gras gave it a platform, but the interaction did not happen.

Purchase price: €37 at retail—a remarkably low price for such quality.