Tokaj Wine Region
We will leave Prešov (other starting point is also possible) in the morning and our first stop will be in a village near Hungarian border. We will taste 15 samples of wines in traditional wine cellar 13 metres deep underground. The origin of these wine cellars is from the times, when villagers had been hiding before attack of Turkish troops. Fortunately, today is their function much more attractive. Wine tasting with a selection of cold meats and cheeses (bacon, cheese, paté, brawn, meat loaf, garnish) is connected with exhibition of wine making and vineyard. After the degustation we will make a short visit of hungarian part of Tokaj wine region. Then we will arrive back to Prešov sometimes in the evening.
Duration: 1 day
Mileage: around 160 miles (260 km) Price per each person: 1 person 230 EUR 2 persons 135 EUR 3 persons 105 EUR 4 persons 90 EUR more than 4 persons price depends on exact number of persons (price includes: transport, guide services, information materials, entrance tickets and fees, regional surprise) |
This trip is for everyone who likes first-quality wines. We will taste 15 samples of wines in traditional wine cellar 13 metres deep underground. Then we will cross a border to see a Hungarian part of the Tokaj Region. You can´t leave Slovakia without tasting famous sweet Tokaj wine.
Famous consumers of Tokaj wines In 1703, Francis Rákóczi II, Prince of Transylvania, gave King Louis XIV of France some Tokaj wine from his Tokaj estate as a gift. The Tokaj wine was served at the French Royal court at Versailles, where it became known as Tokay. Delighted with the precious beverage, Louis XV of France offered a glass of Tokaj to Madame de Pompadour, referring to it as "Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum" ("Wine of Kings, King of Wines"). This famous line is used to this day in the marketing of Tokaj wines. Emperor Franz Josef (who was also King of Hungary) had a tradition of sending Queen Victoria Tokaj wine, as a gift, every year on her birthday, one bottle for every month she had lived, twelve for each year. On her eighty-first and final birthday (1900), this totaled an impressive 972 bottles. Tokaj wine has received accolades from numerous great writers and composers including Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert, Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Friedrich von Schiller, Bram Stoker, Johann Strauß, and Voltaire. The composer Joseph Haydn's favorite wine was Tokaj. Besides Louis XIV, several other European monarchs are known to have been keen consumers of the wine. Louis XV and Frederick the Great tried to outdo one another when they treated guests such as Voltaire with Tokaj. Napoleon III, the last Emperor of the French, ordered 30–40 barrels of Tokaj at the French Royal Court every year. Pope Pius IV. (1499–1565) at the Council of Trient in 1562, exclaimed: Summum pontificem talia vina decent! (This is the type of wine that should be on the papal table). Gustav III, King of Sweden, loved Tokaj - it has been said he never had any other wine to drink. In Russia, customers included Peter the Great and Empress Elizabeth of Russia. A newspaper account of the 1933 wedding of Polish president Ignacy Mościcki notes that toasts were made with 250-year-old wines, and goes on to say "The wine, if good, could only have been Essence of Tokay, and the centuries-old friendship between Poland and Hungary would seem to support this conclusion." It was consumed by Adolf Hitler, his bride Eva Braun and others celebrating their marriage in the bunker shortly before their deaths.
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