Going to Tokaj

What to do in Tokaj

by Candyce H. Stapen

In summer, rows of leafy green vines lace the rolling hills of Tokaj in northeastern Hungary's Zemplén Hills. The region gains fame for its sweet white wines pressed from Aszú grapes, a product of the area's unique combination of volcanic soil, October harvest, and proximity to two rivers. Devotees go back centuries and include Cromwell and Voltaire, as well as Czar Alexander the Great. France's King Louis IV is said to have proclaimed that Tokaj produces "the wine of kings, the king of wines."

On a winery tour you enter the cool, oak-barreled cellars—some of them hundreds of years old—to learn about the delicate art of wine-making. Even teens not yet old enough to sample the varieties find the process interesting and the mould-lined cellars atmospheric. Good companies to tour are...

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