| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | Hungary |
| Colour | Sweet White |
| Type | Still |
The 2007 Essencia is the fifth made in the modern era, and it continues to defy the definition of wine. It gloops onto the spoon, the best way to consume this astonishing elixir. The palate electrifies the senses with almost overwhelming sweetness of apricot, Japanese plum and marmalade, while the acidity miraculously keeps everything on an even keel – not easy to do with a payload of 560gm/L residual sugar! Profound and probably destined to last for eternity. You can even drive home afterwards thanks to the 1.65% alcohol. Tasted at a private dinner in Hong Kong. (2,057 presentation boxes produced)
Only 2057 half bottles were made of this fifth vintage of Essencia from the Royal Tokaji company. With a six year fermentation yielding just 1.62% alcohol and 560g/l sugar, this wine is incredibly thick and viscous in the glass. The bright gold colour is laced with lines of sugar that coat the side of the glass on swirling. The nose is hugely intense, with ripe peaches, acacia honey, sweet vanilla and marmalade. The palate is unlike any other wine, such is the concentration and syrup-like viscosity. Layer upon layer of ripe apricots, cinnamon and vanilla, and a spicy undertone. Such purity, intensity, and sweetness is only managed by the high acidity. The finish is as long as anything we have ever tasted, you can still feel the apricot and spice lingering for the rest of the day. This is incredibly youthful, and will only appeal to those with the sweetest of tooths now, but given some age it should be incredible. This could be a 100+ year wine.
The 2007 Essencia from the Royal Tokaji Wine Company, the fifth made in the modern era, is an otherworldly wine that has difficulty fitting into the definition of "wine." My Pavlovian reaction tasting it from bottle was identical to my reaction when I tasted it at the winery in September 2014. You cannot help but laugh at the sheer audacity of its syrupy pour into your glass or preferably on to a spoon. (As an aside, I strongly recommend this traditional method of consuming Essencia. I can only analogize to Asian cuisine tasting better with chopsticks. So Essencia should be consumed by spoon like a child receiving medicine and inside every one of 2,057 lacquered presentation boxes there is a free, hand-blown, crystal spoon. Do use them.)
Once you have recovered from its texture, the bouquet leaves you giddy with honey, stewed apricots, Japanese plum and Clementine - pure and hedonistic, intoxicating. The palate redefines the meaning of unctuous as it coats your taste buds in sweetness: marmalade and orange zest as before, the fresh fig note more noticeable than I remember. What is magical about this Essencia is how effortlessly, how nonchalantly the acidity counterbalances the 560 grams per liter of residual sugar and avoids any notion of being cloying. It is longer than Wagner's Ring Cycle, so forget about putting any other beverage in your mouth for the rest of the day. Then again, how could you follow this? The drinking window is not a joke. From my own experience I know that great Essencia easily last 100 years and much longer, yet at the same time, I will not begrudge you from experiencing this Essencia for yourself. You could theoretically use a Coravin to spoon feed the next five or six generations of your family, give a drop to the kids since nobody is going to get too tipsy on this at 1.65% alcohol. The 2007 Essencia is a ridiculous, extraordinary, absurd, profound and downright delicious elixir that will be indelibly printed in your vinous memory. It belongs in the pages of Tolkein or J.K. Rowling. It is truly, truly magical.
Outstanding – once again. I laughed when the barrel sample of 2007 Essencia “glooped” into my glass. There are not many wines that do that. Nosing the wine, it has a heady bouquet of honey, molasses, orange blossom and Japanese plum. The palate redefines unctuousness – in fact, it is almost over-powering at the moment, with intense honey, orange zest and marmalade. It clings to the mouth and threatens to make everything that you ingest henceforth taste of Essencia. It is as utterly ridiculous as it is utterly profound.
