TOKAY

also spelled Tokaji, famous, usually sweet white wine of Hungary, made from the Hungarian Furmint grape. The wine derives its name from the Tokaj district of northeastern Hungary. Though some Tokay is dry, the finest version, Tokaji Aszu, is made from late-ripened grapes affected by Botrytis cinerea, a mold that concentrates grape sugars and flavours into honeylike sweetness. The sweetness of Tokay is traditionally measured by the number of puttonyos, or baskets, of sweet grapes used. A three puttonyos wine is lightly sweet; five puttonyos denotes the highest degree of sweetness. The legendary Tokay Eszencia, a concentrated sweet essence of low alcohol famed for its miraculous restorative properties, is virtually unobtainable today. The name tokay is also applied generically to certain sweet wines of indifferent quality that bear no resemblance to Hungarian Tokay.