1996 Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 1996 Tokaji Blue Label 5-Puttonyos, laden with 137g/L residual sugar, has an attractive, slightly oxidative, walnut-scented nose that neatly folds into the quince and truffle aromas. The fresh, poised palate offers a fine line of acidity and notes of tangy marmalade, quince and apricot, although I feel it tapers toward the finish compared to the single-vineyard releases. That said, this 21-year-old Tokaji has aged well. Tasted at the Royal Tokaji Company tasting in London.
Critic scores
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
This was bottled in the spring of 1999 and is a 70/30 blend of furmint and harslevelu. Complex aromas of apricot, woodsmoke, resins, brine and soy. Apricot jam in the mouth, with a continued smoky side to the flavors and faint quinine bitterness. Typical of '96 in its elegance, combining viscosity and high glycerine with a remarkably weightless feel on the palate. Delicate interplay of apricot, subtle citrus, honey and salty minerality in the finish. This is the first of two lots of 1996 "blue label." 1 star.