The hook
The hills where one of the world's original great sweet wines is made, from grapes deliberately left to shrivel with noble rot, once served at royal courts and dubbed the wine of kings.
01Why it's worth it
Tokaj is one of the oldest classified wine regions in the world, and it built its fame on a golden dessert wine, Tokaji Aszú, made from grapes that a benevolent fungus, noble rot, shrivels on the vine to concentrate their sugar. The result was prized across the courts of Europe and reputedly earned the phrase "wine of kings, king of wines." The landscape is modest, volcanic hills and river valleys dotted with villages, but the deep cellars cut into the rock, some furred with a distinctive black cellar mould, are atmospheric places to taste through the sweet and increasingly the dry styles the region now also makes. It is off most itineraries, which is part of the pleasure.
02How to experience it
Base in Tokaj town or a nearby village and taste at a few cellars, from big historic houses to tiny family ones cut into the hillside. Try the range from bone-dry to the syrupy Aszú by its sweetness levels. Autumn brings the shrivel-harvest and the best colour.