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Disznókő: Interpreting Sweetness from Fruit Selection
A producer in Hungary’s Tokaj, working with everything from dry whites to sweet Szamorodni and Aszú. Their production focuses on harvesting botrytised or dried, concentrated berries, picked by bunch or berry depending on intended use.
Compare the raw materials for dry wines, the raw materials for sweet wines selected by bunch, and the single berry-selected Aszú grapes. Compare the harvesting and winemaking flow as published by Disznókő.
Questions for this course
Use all fruit from the same vineyard for aszú?
Before you start reading, briefly jot down your thoughts. You will rephrase them at the end.
To applied practice using the material ↓
To explanation task notes ↓Disznókő / Learning from producers
Hungary / Tokaj
Other names & notations: Disznókö / ディスノク / ディズノーコー
Update date: 2026-09-24
Dividing the harvest for multiple purposes
Disznókő in Tokaj explains that ripe, healthy grapes are used for dry whites, while later harvests are reserved for the base wines and juices of Aszú. The approach is not to wait for all grapes to be botrytized. The state of grapes at harvest is chosen based on the intended wine style.
Whether to harvest whole bunches or select individual grapes
For sweet Szamorodni, select concentrated bunches or parts of bunches. For Aszú, individual berries are selected by hand, and the same vineyard is visited multiple times. In each bunch, the uneven progression of botrytis and drying leads to detailed selection.
Process of maceration before pressing.
For sweet Szamorodni, the selected grapes are pressed directly and then fermented. For Aszú, the selected berries are macerated with fermenting must or new wine. Reading up to this extraction process from concentrated berries reveals differences that cannot be captured by sweetness alone.
State of the raw material over schedule
The official process descriptions provide seasonal guidelines, but not specifications for any particular vintage. When choosing a specific bottle, move on to that year’s harvest, varieties, and records of maceration or maturation. When comparing a producer's dry and sweet wines, first check at which stage the base material was separated.
What to align and what to compare.
Dry and sweet
- Conditions to standardize
- Harvest policy of the same producer
- Conditions for comparison.
- Healthy ripe grapes and concentrated material
- Additional points to confirm
- What to select for making (which wine).
Sorting unit
- Conditions to standardize
- Assessment of noble rot and concentration status
- Conditions for comparison.
- Whole/part bunches and individual berry selection
- Additional points to confirm
- Even within a single bunch, condition is not uniform
Order of winemaking
- Conditions to standardize
- Making wine from selected ingredients
- Conditions for comparison.
- Direct pressing and maceration in juice or wine
- Additional points to confirm
- Details for each vintage are read separately.
Order of reading and key points to consider in each article
0 / 3 articles completed
Next article →Progress is recorded as the completion of reading articles. This does not include completion of explanatory assignments.
- 1↗
Hungary
Tokaj: Rivers and Hills, Dry and Sweet
Rivers, hills, and both dry and sweet styles.
- 2↗
Hungary
Aszú and Eszencia: tracing the steps for extracting sugar
Examine the vinification of the sorted grape berries in detail.
- 3↗
Hungary
Szamorodniy: Comparing dry and sweet styles with real examples
Proceed to actual product materials for both dry and sweet wines.
READ · HYPOTHESIZE · RECONSIDER
Disznókő Source Analysis: Interpreting Sweetness from Fruit Selection
Check for differing conditions by reading the table and sources. For tastings, list characteristics not included in the data separately as aspects to confirm.
This is a summary of materials published by the producer. Vintage-specific information comes from material for that year; details without a vintage refer to the product or process description at the time checked.
| Comparison items | Sweet Szamorodni | Aszú |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of harvest | Whole bunches/parts of bunches | Sorted grape berries |
| Process up to pressing. | Direct pressing of the raw material | Maceration during fermentation or into new wine |
| Additional confirmation with specific bottle | Vintage, varieties, fermentation, maturation | Vintage, varieties, maceration, maturation |
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Read the explanation for each question
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Why are Aszú berries selected one by one?
Botrytis and drying do not progress uniformly within a bunch. Producers describe the process of passing through the vineyard multiple times for selection, which is different from harvesting all at once on a fixed date.
What are the process differences between sweet Szamorodni and Aszú?
The same producer’s description states that, in addition to selection units, the handling before pressing also differs. Do not treat two production methods as the same just because the sweetness figures are similar.
Is the harvest schedule in this explanation a regulation common to all producers?
The explanation being referenced is for Disznókő and does not specify the vintage. To know regional rules and the harvest results for each year, consult additional documents for each.
Basis and sources for the exercise
Practice exercises in comparison
Compare the conditions checked in the documentation, and explain what the producer chose.
Read examples of organizing comparisons
| Conditions for Comparison | Sweet Szamorodni | Aszú |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of harvest | Whole bunches/parts of bunches | Sorted grape berries |
| Process up to pressing. | Direct pressing of the raw material | Maceration during fermentation or into new wine |
| Additional confirmation with specific bottle | Vintage, varieties, fermentation, maturation | Vintage, varieties, maceration, maturation |
Sources of materials used for comparison are listed in the text and exercises.
Explain in your own words
Please explain the stage where the material is separated into dry, sweet Szamorodni, and Aszú. Include the unit for sorting and the process up to pressing.
Check after writing
- Are you classifying based only on sweetness?
- Did you distinguish between whole bunch and individual berries, between pressing and maceration?
- Are you treating the policy of a single producer as if it were a fixed regional rule?
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