Tokaji

Tokaji is a Hungarian wine named after the town of Tokaj, located about 200 km northeast of Budapest, not far from the Slovakian and Ukrainian borders. Proclaimed by Louis XIV as "the wine of kings, the king of wines," the Tokaji vineyard covered 5,500 hectares in 2006, though it had previously covered over 7,000 hectares.

The letter "i" at the end of the word Tokaji signifies "from" the Tokaj region. This clarification is necessary to avoid confusion with the name of an Alsatian grape variety (Pinot Gris, formerly called "Tokay Pinot Gris") which, according to legend, was brought back from Hungary by Lazarus von Schwendi. In reality, Pinot Gris originated in Burgundy. Thus, Alsatian Pinot Gris has no ampelographic or viticultural connection to the grape varieties of Tokaj.

The white grape varieties of Tokaji are furmint, hárslevelü (linden leaf in Hungarian), sárgamuskotály (white muscat with small grains) and zéta (formerly known as oremus).