Tokaji Mad-ness

Richard Sutton, managing director of Armit Wines Hong Kong, writes about the uniqueness of Holdvölgy, a truly world-class winery in northeastern Hungary

The picturesque Holdvolgy winery

As the Hunagarian grape varieties such as Furmint and Harslevlu are not well-known worldwide, and moreover are difficult to pronounce, Demko has chosen to brand the wines under names which are more expressive of the style of each wine: Mediation, Expression, Intuition, Eloquence, Signature and Culture. The labelling, designed in Paris and London, is modern and classy – a reflection of the luxury brand that Demko is building.

Production levels are tiny, and the wines are exclusively available from just two agents worldwide: Justerini and Brooks in London and Armit Wines in Hong Kong. Pascal and his sister Natália, who heads up their marketing, are very excited about the presence of their wines in the Hong Kong and Asian markets. Pascal even discovered the pairing of his wines with some of our local Cantonese dishes to great satisfaction.

Prices range from HK$209 per bottle for the dry Furmint ‘Meditation’, to HK$749 per half bottle for the exquisite top-of-the-range Aszu 2007 ‘Culture’. The latter is a deep bright gold colour, a totally beguiling plethora of flavours, incredibly intense and rich yet so precise. Deep vivid characteristics of dried peach, crystallised citrus, orange blossom honey, apricot and Seville orange. It contains 174g/l of residual sugar but with more than enough depth and freshness to carry it off.

Plaudits from the wine professionals are following thick and fast. The South China Morning Post's wine critic Sarah Wong described the Holdvolgy range as "precise" and "elegant". The Culture 2007 was voted Hungarian Wine of the Year for the second year running in 2013 (Culture 2006 also won in 2012) at the recent prestigious Pannon Wine Challenge, where the judges included Stephen Tanzer, Tim Atkin MW and Isa Bal MS, Sommelier at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck.

For an opportunity to discover these extraordinary wines for yourself while stocks last, contact Armit Wines Hong Kong on 3796 7191 or wine@armitwines.hk

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