Tokaj wine glossary
From putňa and cibéby to samorodné and esencia: the Slovak Tokaj wine terms explained, with their Hungarian equivalents.
- °NM (normalizovaný muštomer)
- The Slovak measure of must weight: kilograms of sugar in 100 litres of grape must. Tokaj rules use it for minimum ripeness, for example 21 °NM for dry samorodné. Read more
- akostné víno s prívlastkom
- Slovak quality wine with a predicate graded by grape ripeness, such as kabinetné, neskorý zber, výber z hrozna, bobuľový výber or cibébový výber. These are separate categories from the traditional Tokajský výber. Read more
- cellar mould (pivničná pleseň)Hungarian: pincepenész
- The dark, soft coating that covers the walls of old tuff cellars. It is part of their character; visitors should not touch it. Read more
- CHOP (chránené označenie pôvodu) / PDOHungarian: OEM
- Protected designation of origin under EU law. Slovak Tokaj has two: Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj (since 2006) and Tokajské víno zo slovenskej oblasti (since 2025). Read more
- cibéby (singular cibéba)Hungarian: aszúszem
- Grapes shrivelled by noble rot, picked separately, often berry by berry. They are the basis of výber, výberová esencia and esencia. Read more
- degustáciaHungarian: borkóstoló
- A wine tasting. In Slovak Tokaj most tastings must be booked in advance, and small family cellars open by arrangement. Read more
- Deň otvorených tokajských pivníc
- Open Tokaj Cellars Day, a ticketed event usually held in mid-September, when many cellars open to visitors with tasting samples. Read more
- esenciaHungarian: eszencia
- The free-run juice of cibéby, fermented very slowly for years. It has more than 450 g/l of sugar and only 1.2–8 % alcohol. Read more
- forditášHungarian: fordítás
- Tokaj wine made by pouring must or wine of the same vintage over the pressed cibéba pomace left from making výber and fermenting it again. It ages at least two years, one in wood. Read more
- FurmintHungarian: Furmint
- The main Tokaj grape, with high acidity and a readiness for noble rot, used for both dry and sweet wines. It covered 291 ha in Slovak Tokaj on 31 July 2025. Read more
- gazdovská pivnica
- A farmhouse cellar belonging to a small family grower. The Gazdovské pivnice area of Veľká Tŕňa has 33 stone portals leading to more than 100 such cellars. Read more
- KabarHungarian: Kabar
- A variety added to the Slovak Tokaj specification in 2022. Only 0.075 ha were registered in Slovakia in July 2025. Read more
- Kövérszőlő (tučné hrozno)Hungarian: Kövérszőlő
- A variety whose name means "fat grape", added to the Slovak Tokaj specification in 2022. Only 0.075 ha were registered in Slovakia in July 2025. Read more
- kvalifikované hony
- Qualified vineyard blocks: the classified plots from which grapes for Tokaj wines may come. Tokaj vineyard land may only be used as vineyards. Read more
- LipovinaHungarian: Hárslevelű
- A traditional Tokaj grape named after the linden tree, softer and more perfumed than Furmint. It covered 169 ha in Slovak Tokaj on 31 July 2025. Read more
- mášlášHungarian: máslás
- Tokaj wine made by fermenting must or wine of the same vintage on the lees of samorodné or výber. It ages at least two years, one in wood, and is rarely seen today. Read more
- Muškát žltýHungarian: Sárgamuskotály
- Yellow Muscat, an aromatic traditional Tokaj grape used for dry and sweet wines. With 197 ha on 31 July 2025 it is the second most planted variety in Slovak Tokaj. Read more
- noble rot (ušľachtilá pleseň)Hungarian: nemesrothadás
- The benign form of the fungus Botrytis cinerea, which in misty mornings and dry afternoons shrivels ripe grapes and concentrates their sugar and acidity. It does not develop equally every year. Read more
- oxidative and reductive style
- Oxidative wines are aged with some contact with air, often in wood, and develop nutty, dried-fruit notes; reductive wines are protected from air to keep fresh fruit. Traditional Tokaj styles tend to be oxidative, varietal wines reductive. Read more
- pivnicaHungarian: pince
- Slovak for a wine cellar. In Tokaj usually a corridor or chamber dug into tuff, where wine ages in wooden casks at a steady cool temperature. Read more
- putňa (plural putne)Hungarian: puttony
- The wooden tub carried on the back to collect botrytised berries at harvest. The putňa number of a výber (3 to 6) once showed how many tubs of cibéby went into a cask; today it stands for a minimum sugar level. Read more
- samorodné (suché / sladké)Hungarian: szamorodni
- Tokaj wine made from the grapes as harvested, with no cibéby added, in years that do not favour widespread noble rot. For dry (suché) the cibéby are first picked out of the bunches for výber wines, grapes ≥ 21 °NM, up to 10 g/l of sugar; for sweet (sladké) they are processed together with the other grapes, grapes ≥ 24 °NM, more than 10 g/l. Both age at least two years, one in wood. Read more
- štátne kontrolné číslo
- State control number. Protected Tokaj wines labelled with traditional terms such as samorodné or výber must carry it. Read more
- TOKAJ REGNUM
- A civic association of Tokaj producers based in Malá Tŕňa, named as a beneficiary of the protected designation Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj. It organises the Open Tokaj Cellars Day. Read more
- Tokajská vínna cesta
- The Tokaj Wine Route association, founded in 2008 by winemakers, villages and others. It runs the Tokaj Tourist Information Office in Čerhov. Read more
- tuff (tuf)Hungarian: tufa
- Soft rock formed from compacted volcanic ash. Tokaj cellars are dug by hand into it. Read more
- ÚKSÚP
- The Central Control and Testing Institute in Agriculture, the Slovak state body that keeps the vineyard and producer registers and certifies grapes and wine. Read more
- varietal Tokaj wine (Tokajský Furmint, Tokajská Lipovina, Tokajský Muškát žltý)
- A Tokaj wine named after one grape, with at least 85 % of that variety and up to 15 % of the other two. Usually fresh in style, dry to sweet. Read more
- vinobranieHungarian: szüret
- The grape harvest, and the harvest festival that celebrates it. The Tokaj harvest festival (Tokajské vinobranie) is usually held on the last weekend of September. Read more
- Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj
- The Tokaj wine-growing region of Slovakia, one of the country's six: a closed wine region defined by law by the cadastral areas of seven villages. Its delimited area is commonly given as 907 ha (the Act sets no figure in hectares); registered vineyards covered 891 ha in 2022. Read more
- výber (Tokajský výber 3–6-putňový)Hungarian: aszú
- The classic sweet Slovak Tokaj wine: cibéby soaked in must or wine of the same vintage, with at least 60, 90, 120 or 150 g/l of sugar for 3, 4, 5 or 6 putne, aged at least three years, two in wood. It is never called aszú, which is the Hungarian equivalent. Read more
- výberová esenciaHungarian: aszúeszencia
- A very concentrated Tokaj wine made like výber, with at least 180 g/l of sugar and at least 45 g/l of sugar-free extract, aged at least three years. Hungary no longer uses its equivalent category, aszúeszencia. Read more
- ZétaHungarian: Zéta
- A variety formerly known as Oremus, added to the Slovak Tokaj specification in 2022. It covered 0.28 ha in July 2025, and a few Slovak producers make a varietal Zéta. Read more