Often referred to as "Old Style", wines were oxidized as much as possible before they wine goes into the bottle. In barrel aging, the barrels are not be "topped off" as wine evaporates, leaving a large surface area of the maturing with exposed to air. These wines have a dark, nut-brown appearance and a robust, complex aroma and taste, even though they are relatively young, new wines. This wine style and practice was employed during the Communist era and was was used by, most notably, Royal Tokaji Wine Company in its first decade and Kereskedőház until its re-branding to Grand Tokaj in 2013.
The "New Style" is that wines should oxidized as little as possible before they go into the bottle. These wines, when newly bottled, look pale yellow to golden yellow. The wines are certainly not brown or topaz and taste distinctly floral and honeyed.
Dear Reader:
With the influx of investment in Tokaj, new wineries and young, energetic wine makers are redefining what Tokaji tastes like. The new government regulations are not intended to hinder wine makers but serve to offer more flexibility and foster creativity in how Tokaji as made and sold. Tokaji Sparkling wines, ice wines, late harvest wine, and even red wines unheard of 10 years ago are now commonplace.
The most significant way these wine markers are reenvisioning Tokaji Aszú is by moving away from the oxidative style of the past. These "new style" Aszú wines have flavor characteristics that make the young wine easy to approach and also easy to sell and drink. These wines keep aging to a minimum, avoiding holding inventory for many years and instead having ready income that might take years to amass if historic bottle aging practices were employed.
Fueling these changes, while very often unsaid, is a strong undercurrent of resentment (rightly) of the Communist era endured by Hungarians. The "new style" movement being pushed forward by these young and coming-of-age wine makers is looking to shed all vestige of Communist ways in wine making including the oxidative style. Unfortunately, in their excitement to rid themselves of a memory of Communist occupation and an eagerness to turn profits, current winemaker might be going too far and throwing the baby out with the bath water. While the current Aszú wines are delicious, when aged for more than 10 years, they don't develop in the same was as the wines of the past. They become rather awkward and do not develop the complexity of taste or aroma as the those wines which employed the former, oxidative methods. Only time will tell. -Adam Aceto, 2020.