The Tokaj foothills are situated at the extreme limit of the vine cultivation. In the North East of Hungary, between the 48th and 49th parallel and between 21 and 22° longitude. The vines are planted on the Zemplen slopes between 150 and 250 m.
The forest beyond the vines and on the top of the hills protects from the cold wind coming from the North. Down in the valley, two rivers, the Bodrog and the Tisza, cut right across a humid natural reserve (the Bodrog Köz). This humidity helps the botrytis to develop during the autumn mist.
Continental climate
The soil is volcanic. It can be classified in three main categories : clay on a rhyolite basis, a homogeneous loess, fragments of volcanic rocks. The climate is continental, with big differences between the years in terms of sunshine and precipitations.
The surface of the vineyard is around 4 500 hectares planted with Furmint (65 %), Harslevelü (30 %) and Muscat de Lunel (5 %). The traditional culture gives a density of 10 000 vines per hectare. A new canopy is being developped : the low Cordon with trellis, between 5 000 and 7 000 vines per hectare.