About this route
Route overview
The most famous wine region of Central Europe in one comfortable day with a private chauffeur — Tokaj-Hegyalja, the Hungarian wine region on the slopes of the Kopasz-hegy volcano, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2002, the cradle of the sweet dessert wines Tokaj Aszu known as "the wine of kings, the king of wines" (Louis XIV), known since the 16th century at the courts of the Habsburgs, Russian tsars and popes. Standard plan: 8:00 hotel pickup in Bratislava, 11:00 arrival in the Tokaj region (270 km via the D1 and M3 motorways across the Slovak-Hungarian border at Milhost-Tornyosnemeti, about 3 h). First winery 11:30 — Disznoko Estate (105 ha of vineyards on the volcanic Mezozombor hill, a premium Grand Cru estate, tasting of 3 wines: dry Furmint, Harslevelu, sweet Tokaji Aszu 5 puttonyos from selected berries affected by Botrytis cinerea — "noble rot"). 13:00 lunch at Sarga Borhaz (restaurant by the winery in a Neo-Classical manor, Hungarian cuisine: goulash with Tokaj Furmint wine, roasted goose foie gras, szilvas gomboc plum dumplings). 14:30 second winery — Royal Tokaji Wine Company (founded in 1990 after Communism by Hugh Johnson and selected historical owners, tasting of 3 wines: Late Harvest, Aszu 6 puttonyos, Eszencia — an extraordinary elixir of pure juice from botrytised berries, the sweetest wine in the world at 700 g sugar/l). 15:30 Tokaj wine cellars (15th-18th-century volcanic cellars carved into tuff, natural temperature 12 C and humidity 85%, ideal for ageing Aszu, characteristic black Cladosporium cellare mould on the cellar walls). 17:00 return to Bratislava (270 km, about 3 h). EUR 780 Mercedes E-Class. Service runs 24/7 with flight tracking if pickup is at BTS.