Tokaji Asz | Hungary | King

Before there was Champagne, there was Tokaj — the remote region of northeastern Hungary where an unusually sweet wine is produced.

Sticklers recognize a variety of dry white wines from the region (labeling them as Tokaji), but the area’s prized Aszú dessert wines are the most cherished. Dating to the 16th century, these decadent, golden-hued pours were favored by the likes of Beethoven, Goethe and most famously, France’s King Louis XIV. Communism reduced the celebrity of this corked confection, but recently it has re-emerged. Try this flight of Tokaji Aszú wines now available in the United States: