Tokay vineyards--The vine-grower's difficulties--Geology of the
Hegyalia--The Pope's compliment to the wine of Tállya--Towns of the
Hegyalia--Farming--System of wages at harvest--The different sorts
of Tokay wine.
The vintage is the season of all others for Tokay; in former days it was
a very gay affair, for then every noble family in Hungary, especially
the bishops, had vineyards in the Hegyalia, and the magnates came to the
vintage with large retinues of servants and horses; and feasting and
hospitality were the order of the day. In the good old times every
important event in the family was celebrated by much drinking of Tokay,
but in those degenerate days other fashions prevail. Before their
kingdom was dismembered the Poles were the best customers for Tokay
wine, but they are too poor now to have such luxuries; added to this,
Russia has for nearly a century past laid an almost prohibitive duty on
Hungarian wine. The fiscal impositions of Austria have also weighed
heavily on Hungary's productions. At present North Germany and
Scandinavia are amongst the most ready purchasers of Tokay; and England
is beginning to appreciate the "Szamarodni" or "dry Tokay," remarkable
for the absence of all deleterious sweetness.
In good years the vintage of Tokay may be estimated at something like
150,000 _eimers_, an _eimer_ being about two and a half gallons; but a
really good year is the exception, not the rule. For three years (since
1874) the vintages have all been below the average. The season of 1876
was a complete failure; a disastrous frost on the 19th of May in that
year completely destroyed the hopes and prospects of the vine-grower.
Indeed he has a trying life of it, for his hopes go up and down with the
barometer. If his vines escape the much-dreaded May frosts, there is a
risk that the summer may be too wet for the grapes, which love sunshine.
Then, again, in the hottest summers there are violent hail-storms, and
in half an hour he may see his promising crop beaten to the ground. It
has been well remarked that "the weather seems to have no control over
itself in Hungary."
The vine-grower's troubles do not end when the vintage is successfully
over. Tokay is a troublesome wine in respect to fermentation; it
requires three years before it can travel, and even when these critical
years are over, the wine will sometimes get "sick" in the spring--at
the identical time when the sap rises in the living plant.
The unique quality of the Tokay is due to the soil, and perhaps to some
other conditions; but not to the peculiarity of the grape, for, as a
matter of fact, they grow a variety of sorts. The cultivation of the
vine appears to be of great antiquity in this part of the world. The
introduction of the plant is attributed to the inevitable Phœnician;
but, treading on more assured historic ground, we find that King Bela
IV., in the thirteenth century, caused new kinds of grapes to be
imported from Italy, and brought about an improvement generally in the
culture of the vine.
But to return to the question of the soil. The Tokay Eperies group of
hills is one of several well-defined groups of volcanic rocks that exist
in Hungary and Transylvania. In the Tokay district the formations are
partly eruptive, partly sedimentary, but nowhere older than the Tertiary
period, say the geologists. The Hegyalia (which means "mountain-slopes"
in the Magyar tongue) forms the southern spur of the extended volcanic
region, composed of trachyte and rhyolithe, beginning at Eperies and
terminating in the conical hill of Tokay, which protrudes itself so
singularly into the Alföld, or plain.
But the vine-growing district does not end at Tokay; it continues on
the eastern slopes of the mountain range as far as Uihely, forming two
sides of an irregular triangle, and the total length, say from Szanto in
the west to Tokay, and from Tokay to Uihely, being about thirty-eight
miles.
As a matter of fact, Tokay, which gives its name to the wine, does not
produce the best vintage; other localities are more esteemed. Tállya,
for example, situated a few miles east of Szanto, has long been
renowned. As early as the sixteenth century the excellence of the wine
from this district was acknowledged by infallible authority. It appears
that during the sitting of the Council of Trent, wines were produced
from all parts for the delectation of the holy fathers. George
Draskovics, the Bishop of Fünfkirchen, brought some of his celebrated
vintage, and presenting a glass of it to the Pope, observed that it was
_Tállya_ wine. Whereupon his Holiness pronounced it to be nectar,
surpassing all other wines, exclaiming with ready wit, "Summum
Pontificum _talia_ vina decent." This place, so happily distinguished by
Papal wit, is pleasantly situated on the side of the hill; it possesses
about 2100 acres of vineyards.
The places in the Hegyalia are all called towns, though in reality they
are not much more than large villages. Tokay has 4000 inhabitants; it
is at the foot of the hill, close to the junction of the Theiss and the
Bodrog; a ruined castle forms a picturesque object in the foreground,
and beyond is the far-stretching plain. Professor Judd says[24] that at
one period of their history "the volcanic islands of Hungary must have
been very similar in appearance to those of the Grecian Archipelago."
Looking at the conical-shaped hill of Tokay, and the other
configurations of the range, it is quite easy to take in the idea, and
under certain atmospheric conditions the great plain very closely
resembles an inland sea.
At Tokay the Theiss becomes navigable for steamers, but the circuitous
course of the river prevents much traffic, more especially since the
extension of railways. The next place is Tarczal, and here the Emperor
of Austria has some fine vineyards. Some people have an idea that all
the wine grown in the whole district is Imperial Tokay, and that the
vineyards themselves, one and all, are imperial property. This is very
far from being the case; in fact, since 1848, the peasant proprietors
hold more largely than any other class. The easy transfer of land
facilitates the purchase of small lots, and the result is that every
peasant in the Hegyalia tries to possess himself of an acre or two, or
even half an acre of vineyard. The cultivation seems to pay them well;
but a succession of bad seasons must be very trying, for the vineyards
cannot be neglected be the year good or bad.
At Zombar, a village in this locality, there is a good instance of what
can be got out of reclaimed land; it was formerly under water for the
greater portion of the year. The soil is so rich in decayed vegetable
matter as to be almost black, and now grows excellent crops of tobacco
and Indian corn. The country north-east of Tokay is certainly the most
picturesque side, there is more foliage, and there is also water.
The first time I drove through Bodrog-Keresztur, which is on this side,
I thought that, notwithstanding the pretty country, I had never seen so
desolate a place. The town was once famed for its markets, but the
railways have changed all this; almost every other house is a ruin, and
large trees may be seen growing between the walls.
In the last century a company of Russian soldiers were stationed here
for the purpose of buying Tokay wine for the Russian Court.
One of the prettiest little places in the Hegyalia is Erdö-Benye; it is
off the main road, right in amongst the hills. It boasts the largest
wine-cellar in the whole district; it has twenty-two ramifications at
two different levels, the whole being cut out of the solid rock; it is
more like a subterranean labyrinth than a cellar. This place was
formerly the property of the renowned family of Rákoczy, who played no
mean part in Hungarian history. Not far from Erdö-Benye are
mineral-water baths, romantically situated in the oak-forest.
Sáros Patak and Uihely are the two most noteworthy towns in the
north-eastern side of the Tokay triangle. The first named has a
Calvinist college of some considerable reputation, a library of 24,000
volumes, a printing-press, and a botanical garden. Uihely is the county
town of Zemplin. An agricultural show was held here last spring (1877),
which I attended. Our English-made agricultural implements were very
much to the fore on this occasion. Some people complain of these
machines on the score of their getting out of order rather easily, and
of the immense difficulty of having them repaired in the country. This
objection, I have heard, does not apply alike to all the English makers.
At this show there were some new kinds of wine-presses which attracted a
good deal of attention; before long no doubt not a few changes will be
effected in the process of wine-making in Tokay. Considering that
Hungary holds the third rank in Europe as a wine-producing country, the
whole question of the manipulation of wine is a very important one for
her.
Amongst the live stock at this show I noticed some very fine merino
sheep. In Hungary the wool-producing quality is everything in sheep, as
mutton has hardly any value. This was only a country show, and the
horses, from an Englishman's point of view, were not worth looking at;
but there are plenty of fine horses in Hungary. The Government has been
at immense pains to improve the breed by introducing English and Arabian
sires. For practical purposes the native breed must not be decried; the
Hungarian horse, though small, has many excellent qualities. For
ordinary animals the prices are very low, which fact does not encourage
the peasants to take much care of the foals. On this occasion I bought a
couple of horses for farming purposes; the two only cost me about £11.
With regard to farming, our English notions of "high farming" will not
do in Hungary; what is called the "extensive system" pays best. For
instance, if I were already farming, and had some disposable capital at
hand, I should find it pay me better to invest in buying more land than
in trying to increase the produce of what I had already in hand. After
some practical experience in the country, I have no hesitation in saying
that Hungary offers a good field for the employment of English capital.
Vineyards, on the other hand, can only be worked "intensively." Nothing
requires more care and attention. To begin with, the aspect of the vine
garden influences the quality of the wine immensely. Then there is the
soil. The best is the plastic clay (_nyirok_), which appears to be the
product of the direct chemical decomposition of volcanic rock. This clay
absorbs water but very slowly, and is, in short, the most favourable to
the growth of the vine. As the vines are mostly on the steep hillsides,
low walls are built to prevent the earth from being washed away. In the
early spring one of the first things to be done is to repair the
inevitable damage done by the winter rain or snow to these walls, and to
clear the ditches, which are carefully constructed to carry off the
excess of water. I should observe that in the autumn, soon after the
vintage, the earth is heaped up round the vines to protect them from the
intense cold which prevails here, and directly the spring comes, one
must open up the vines again. In Tokay the vines are never trellised,
they are disposed irregularly, not even in rows--the better to escape
the denudation of their roots by rain. Each vine is supported by an oak
stick, which, removed in autumn, is replaced in spring after the
process of pruning. When the young shoots are long enough they are bound
to these sticks, and are not allowed to grow beyond them.
No less than three times during the summer the earth should be dug up
round the roots of the vine, and it is very desirable to get the second
digging over before the harvest, for when harvest has once commenced it
is impossible to get labourers at any price. The harvest operations
generally begin at the end of June, and last six weeks. In the part of
Hungary of which I am now speaking the labourer gets a certain
proportion of the harvest. In this district he has every eleventh stack
of corn, and as they are fed as well during the time, a man and his wife
can generally earn enough corn for the whole year. The summers are
intensely hot, and the work in consequence very fatiguing. The poor
fellows are often stricken with fever, the result, in some cases, of
their own imprudence in eating water-melons to excess.
It is not till the third or fourth week in October that the vintage is
to be looked for. It is not the abundance of grapes that makes a good
year; the test is the amount of dried grapes, for it is to these brown
withered-looking berries that the unique character of the-wine is due.
If the season is favourable, the over-ripe grapes crack in September,
when the watery particles evaporate, leaving the rasin-like grape with
its undissipated saccharine matter.
In order to make "Essenz," these dry grapes are separated from the rest,
placed in tubs with holes perforated at the bottom. The juice is allowed
to squeeze out by the mere weight of the fruit into a vessel placed
beneath. After several years' keeping this liquid becomes a drinkable
wine, but of course it is always very costly. This is really only a
liqueur. The wine locally called "Ausbruch" is the more generally known
sweet Tokay, a delicious wine, but also very expensive. It is said to
possess wonderfully restorative properties in sickness and in advanced
age.
Another quality, differently treated, but of the same vintage, is called
"Szamarodni," now known in the English market as "dry Tokay." This dry
wine preserves the bouquet and strength of the ordinary Tokay, but it is
absolutely without any appreciable "sweetness." In order to produce
Szamarodni the dry grapes must not be separated from the others. The
proportion of alcohol is from twelve to fifteen per cent.
When first I saw the vintage in the Tokay district, I was greatly
interested in the novelty of the whole scene. It is well worth the
stranger's while to turn aside from the beaten track and join for once
in this characteristic Hungarian festivity, for nowhere is the Magyar
more at home than in the vine-growing Hegyalia.
[Footnote 24: Ancient Volcanoes of Hungary.]
THE END.
MUIR AND PATERSON, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
[Illustration: Map of the BANAT and TRANSYLVANIA with Mr. Crosse's
Route]
End of Project Gutenberg's Round About the Carpathians, by Andrew F. Crosse