Hungary 2018: Early harvest due to heatwave

Gabor Kardos, the winemaker in Tokaj behind the fabulous Kardos wines, is planning to harvest 2-3 weeks early due to the high sugar content in his grapes following 2018’s Summer heatwave.

“The crop is very healthy,” Gabor told us. “We didn’t need to do much intervention this year and I’m expecting fruit that will make very characterful wines.

“We’ve also had high sugar content in the must this year. It’s too early to comment on bortrytis (Noble Rot) for our sweet Aszu wines but it’s looking promising. Watch this space…”

Kardos wines specialise in dry styles as well as a selection of late harvest and Aszu dessert wine styles.