Round About the Carpathians Part 19

The vintage is the season of all others for Tokay; in former days it was a very gay affair, for then every n.o.ble 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 Phnician; but, treading on more a.s.sured 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 Alfold, 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. Tallya, 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 Funfkirchen, brought some of his celebrated vintage, and presenting a gla.s.s of it to the Pope, observed that it was _Tallya_ wine. Whereupon his Holiness p.r.o.nounced it to be nectar, surpa.s.sing all other wines, exclaiming with ready wit, "Summum Pontific.u.m _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 cla.s.s. 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 Erdo-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 Rakoczy, who played no mean part in Hungarian history. Not far from Erdo-Benye are mineral-water baths, romantically situated in the oak-forest.

Saros 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.