Pauleczki-Vin: Muscat Lunel at the Heart of Tokaj

Tokaj is Hungary’s celebrated home of sweet wine, a UNESCO-listed cultural landscape that established the world’s first vineyard classification, and its Aszú has long been called “wine of kings, king of wines”. Pauleczki-Vin has added its own honours to that heritage: its oldest Essencia was named Best of Show at the Japan Wine Challenge, and won the Best Dessert Wine trophy, presented on stage in Hong Kong, China. The house’s signature is unusual in Tokaj: Muscat Lunel, a fragrant Muscat grape, leads its vineyards.

Pour a first glass of its Late Harvest: golden in colour, with flowers and fresh grapes on the nose. This is the family’s welcome from Tolcsva, a sweet wine with a fresh, light character. From that first perfume, the path leads towards the richer world of Aszú and the concentrated nectar of Essencia.

A family close to the vines

Antal Pauleczki Sr. founded the winery in 1997 after a life devoted to traditional vine growing and winemaking. Almost every member of the family works here today. Their vineyards lie around Tolcsva and the nearby villages of Olaszliszka and Sárazsadány, on soils of volcanic origin.

Local climate, limited yields and careful winemaking help give the wines their aromatic intensity. Traditional methods work alongside modern cellar technology, while renovation and replanting have renewed the estate.

Late Harvest, a floral first glass

Muscat Lunel is Hungary’s name for Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, an ancient grape of Greek origin named for its small berries and tight bunches. The same grape makes Moscato d’Asti in Italy and the sweet Muscats of Samos in Greece and Frontignan in France. If you like Moscato, you already have a familiar starting point for the grape.

Pauleczki-Vin’s Muscat Lunel Late Harvest is golden, with an intense scent of flowers and fresh grapes. Rich fruit picked late in the season becomes a sweet wine that feels fresh and light. Fermentation and maturation in steel tanks keep the fruit at the centre of the glass. This is a welcoming choice for someone drawn first to a wine’s perfume.

The autumn behind sweet Tokaji

Sweet Szamorodni takes its name from a word meaning “self-grown”. Whole bunches containing many grapes touched by noble rot are made into wine together. Pauleczki-Vin uses Muscat Lunel for this traditional style, giving a balanced sweet wine with fruit, spice and vanilla from oak maturation. Choose it when the gently spiced character of a cellar-matured wine appeals to you.

Muscat Lunel Aszú 5 Puttonyos follows a more selective method. Shrivelled berries touched by noble rot are picked one by one and soaked in fermenting grape juice before the wine matures in Zemplén oak from the surrounding hills. Made entirely from Muscat Lunel, it carries the family’s signature grape into a celebrated Tokaj speciality. The puttonyos number on the label describes its richness, a useful clue as you move into Aszú.

Bring a little Tokaj to the table

Choose Pauleczki-Vin’s Late Harvest for the first glass as friends arrive, with its Muscat scent setting the tone for the evening. For a significant anniversary, bring out an Essencia, Tokaj’s rarest wine, and share a taste of it as dessert arrives. These are different ways to bring this Tolcsva house to your table, from a welcoming bottle to a special final taste.

The family’s motto is “Rooted in Tokaj. Open to the world.” Bring that welcome into your next gathering, whether you are choosing a bottle for your own table or a gift for a wine-loving friend. Start with the house’s Muscat Lunel and let your next glass carry the story forward.