History of Slovak Tokaj Wine

For most of its history, Tokaj was a single wine region in the Kingdom of Hungary. Since 1920 a small part of it has belonged first to Czechoslovakia and then to Slovakia. This page follows that story, separating what is documented from what is tradition. Where the sources disagree, we say so.

Traditions and early claims

The official description of the Slovak protected designation of origin claims that vines were grown here as early as Roman times, in the 2nd century. It also repeats a tradition that King Béla IV of Hungary, in the 13th century, settled Italian newcomers in the area who brought the Furmint grape. Both are part of the region's traditional narrative; we have not found independent evidence for either, so read them as stories rather than established history.

Ottoman wars and the first cellars

According to the same specification, the region lived through roughly 170 years of Ottoman wars and domination in the 16th and 17th centuries. Cellars were dug into the soft volcanic tuff as shelters and later used to mature wine. According to the specification, the first Tokaj selection wine (výber) was made in 1650. The regional tourism board dates the origins of the farmhouse cellars of Veľká Tŕňa to the 15th century. More on the cellars on tuff cellars.

1737: a closed wine region

A royal decree issued in 1737 under Charles III (as King of Hungary; Emperor Charles VI) is widely cited as creating a closed, delimited Tokaj wine region, often described as one of the first in the world. Some sources give the year as 1757. Which of today's Slovak villages the decree named is not clear from the sources we checked.

1908: the Hungarian wine law

Hungarian Act XLVII of 1908 redefined Tokaj-Hegyalja (31 places). This law later became important in the dispute over the name. In its 2024 opposition to a Slovak application, Hungary argued that of today's seven Slovak villages, only Malá Tŕňa (Kistoronya) and Viničky (Szőlőske) belonged to the region under the legislation in force between 1908 and 1924.

1920: a border through the vineyards

The Treaty of Trianon drew a new border through the region, and all seven of today's Slovak Tokaj villages became part of Czechoslovakia. Of these, Malá Tŕňa (Kistoronya) and Viničky (Szőlőske) were counted in Tokaj-Hegyalja under the Hungarian law of 1908, as was Kis-Újhely, the part of the town of Sátoraljaújhely that the border cut off and that is today Slovenské Nové Mesto. The vineyard area that changed hands is given differently by different sources: about 120, 132 or 175 ha. According to Wikipedia, Slovak producers continued to make Tokaj wine under the old Hungarian rules after 1920.

From 1938 to 1944, after the First Vienna Award, the area was again part of Hungary. After the Second World War it returned to Czechoslovakia.

The Czechoslovak era

In 1959 the Slovak National Council passed Act No. 4/1959 on the Tokaj region, aimed at developing Tokaj viticulture. It defined the region over seven municipalities, the same seven that form it today: Bara, Čerhov, Černochov, Malá Tŕňa, Slovenské Nové Mesto, Veľká Tŕňa and Viničky. According to Slovak Wikipedia, the Tokaj vineyard area then totalled 703.10 ha.

In 1967 the name "TOKAJSKÉ VÍNO z československej oblasti" (Tokaj wine from the Czechoslovak region) was registered under the international Lisbon Agreement on appellations of origin (registration AO-45, 22 November 1967).

From the 1960s, a state enterprise named Tokaj ran the large historic cellar in Malá Tŕňa. It collapsed in 1998, and in 1999 the newly formed Tokaj & CO took over its vineyards and cellars.

After 1989: private wineries

From 1990 onwards, private and family wineries emerged alongside the large producer. J & J Ostrožovič began in 1990 and Zlatý Strapec in 1992; others followed, from Chateau Vécsey (2008, in Streda nad Bodrogom, outside the seven villages) to Tokaj Gold (2014). On 17 June 2008, winemakers, mayors and others founded the Tokaj Wine Route association (Združenie Tokajská vínna cesta).

EU membership and the name dispute

Slovakia and Hungary both joined the European Union in 2004. According to Wikipedia, the two governments signed an agreement on the use of the Tokaj name in Slovakia that June, but disagreement continued over how it was applied.

In 2006 both the Hungarian "Tokaj/Tokaji" and the Slovak "Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj" entered the EU lists of protected designations of origin.

The EU's E-Bacchus database of protected wine names went live on 1 August 2009, and the new Slovak wine act, No. 313/2009, came into force on 1 September 2009. At Slovakia's request (in a letter of 30 November 2009), the Slovak entry in E-Bacchus was changed back to read "Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj". Hungary challenged that entry in the EU courts. In 2010 an amendment to the act (No. 198/2010) replaced the term "Tokajská vinohradnícka oblasť" with "Tokaj".

On 8 November 2012 the EU General Court dismissed Hungary's action as inadmissible (case T-194/10).
On 13 February 2014 the Court of Justice dismissed Hungary's appeal (case C-31/13 P), finding that the E-Bacchus listing was not a measure that could be challenged.

Producers in both countries continue to use the name Tokaj, each with their own terms. Slovak wines are never labelled "Tokaji" or "aszú", which are Hungarian terms.

UNESCO

In 2002 the Hungarian part of the region was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape. The same year Slovakia placed its part on its national Tentative List. The World Heritage Committee recommended in 2002, and again in 2008, that Hungary and Slovakia work together towards a cross-border extension; no extension has been made. The Slovak part is therefore not a World Heritage Site.

Recent years

2015: a 12 m wooden observation tower shaped like a barrel opened in the vineyards between Malá Tŕňa and Černochov.
2021: "Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj" was registered under the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement (AO-1230, 22 June 2021).
2022: the Slovak specification was amended to add the varieties Kabar, Kövérszőlő and Zéta (see grape varieties).
2025: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1291 of 2 July 2025 registered a second Slovak protected designation of origin, "Tokajské víno zo slovenskej oblasti". Hungary had lodged a reasoned opposition; the Commission registered the name, finding no risk of confusion with the Hungarian Tokaj/Tokaji.

For how the two sides of Tokaj compare today, see Slovak and Hungarian Tokaj.

Timeline at a glance

Year	Event	Status
2nd c.	Roman-era viticulture	Claim in the PDO specification
13th c.	Béla IV settles Italians who bring Furmint	Tradition
15th c.	Origins of the Veľká Tŕňa farmhouse cellars	Per regional tourism board
16th–17th c.	Ottoman wars; tuff cellars dug as shelters, later for wine	Per PDO specification
1650	First Tokaj selection wine (výber)	Per PDO specification
1737	Royal decree creates a closed Tokaj region	Widely cited (some sources: 1757)
1908	Hungarian Act XLVII redefines Tokaj-Hegyalja	Documented
1920	Trianon: all seven of today's villages to Czechoslovakia	Documented
1938–1944	Area again part of Hungary	Documented
1959	Act No. 4/1959 defines the region over seven villages	Documented
1967	Lisbon registration AO-45	Documented
1998–1999	State enterprise collapses; Tokaj & CO takes over	Documented
2002	Hungarian Tokaj on UNESCO list; Slovak part on Tentative List	Documented
2004	Slovakia and Hungary join the EU	Documented
2006	Both sides' Tokaj names listed as EU PDOs	Documented
2008	Tokaj Wine Route association founded	Documented
2009	Act No. 313/2009 in force	Documented
2012	General Court, T-194/10	Documented
2014	Court of Justice, C-31/13 P	Documented
2021	Geneva Act registration AO-1230	Documented
2022	Kabar, Kövérszőlő and Zéta added	Documented
2025	Second PDO registered (Regulation 2025/1291)	Documented

A history of Slovak Tokaj