A fter crushing and stemming, the Szamorodni ingredients are soaked for between 12 and 24 hours, during which the sugar content, bouquet and aroma substances of the Asz grapes are released. Pneumatic presses are usually used to press out the wort. I t does not require any special technology to make Tokaji Asz . There are two components the Asz berries and the base wine. The Asz berries are selected during the vintage, collected in tubs and stored there until the second component, the base wine, has fermented.
Some unfermented fructose is an advantage.
To extract the sugar, flavour and aroma from the Asz grapes, they were first crushed by foot in coarsely woven linen, and the base wine poured over this pulp-like Asz dough. Because of the varying quality of the base wine, Asz wines made in this way were variable and differed from each other. This clumsy traditional process has been replaced by updated technology, but one which has nonetheless preserved certain elements of the old tradition. T he mashing of the Asz berries is now carried out by means of a mechanical device that does not impair the grape seed. The base wine is poured over the Asz dough thus obtained and then stirred several times.