Tokaji Cuvée Ilona 2011 500ml

The Tokaji Cuvée Ilona is a cuvée of late harvested grapes with about 50 % Furmint and 50 % Hárslevelű from the Lapis vineyard. Harvested on 26 and 27 October 2011, the wine was aged for five months in a 5 hectolitre Slavonian oak barrel and bottled at 11 % alcohol, 156 g/l residual sugar and 8.1 grams acidity. 

Bright amber

The Tokaji Ilona smells dark and spicy of mocha and malt coffee, blond tobacco and dried apricots, bitter orange marmalade and some caramel with black tea, some grilled pineapple and cool stone. The longer it is in the glass, the more intense, clear, precise and deep it becomes, and the fragrant musky notes of the approximately 10 % Muskotály emerge.

On the palate, this is a noble sweet wine full of energy, tension and density with a fantastic acid structure that skilfully buffers the lush sweetness. The spicy and slightly bitter fruit flavours of stone fruit and citrus appear clear, pure and concentrated. Ilona also offers a creamy and beguilingly sensual texture. At the same time, the wine is bursting with power and concentration. The acidity will carry the wine for decades. It can outlive us all.