Geography

Mád sits in the heart of the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in northeastern Hungary, on the southern slopes of the Zemplén Mountains. The village’s vineyards run up the slopes on volcanic andesite-and-rhyolite soils covered in places with loess. The terroir is geologically dramatic — Mád sits on what was once an active volcano, and the wines from the village’s named vineyard sites (Király, Szent Tamás, Becsek, Nyulászó, Úrágya) show a distinctive smoky-volcanic mineral character that sets them apart from the rest of the Tokaj region.

The producers

Mád is the village where the modern Tokaj dry-wine revival was effectively born. István Szepsy — widely considered the spiritual leader of modern Tokaj — is based here, and his single-vineyard dry Furmints from Mád sites (Úrágya, Szent Tamás, Nyulászó) are reference wines. The Royal Tokaji Wine Company also bases much of its prestige Aszú production on Mád vineyards (Mézes Mály, Nyulászó). Other key producers: Holdvölgy, Demeter Wines, Tokaj Nobilis.

Style of the wines

Mád Furmint, dry: lemon, green apple, white peach, beeswax, smoke, with a distinctive volcanic-mineral spine that is the village’s calling card. The wines combine the linear precision of top Rheingau Riesling with the structure of serious Loire Chenin. Tokaji Aszú from Mád sites — particularly the legendary Mézes Mály — shows the classic Tokaji profile of dried apricot, honey, marmalade, ginger, candied citrus, with a botrytis-and-acid lift that keeps the sweetness from cloying.

How they age

Top Mád Furmint, dry, ages twenty years routinely and develops honeyed, nutty complexity. Mád Tokaji Aszú from a serious producer in a great vintage ages fifty-plus years — the wines are essentially indestructible. The 2017, 2013, 2008, 2003, 1999 are legendary modern vintages for Tokaji Aszú.

Producers we know

István Szepsy (the modern dry-Tokaj reference), Royal Tokaji Wine Company (especially the Mézes Mály and Nyulászó single-vineyard Aszú bottlings), Holdvölgy, Tokaj Nobilis. Browse Hungary at /encyclopedia/regions-encyclopedia/tokaj-encyclopedia/.