Rare bottles of wine crafted by Holocaust victims to be put on auction
The Zimmerman family was one of the 437,402 Hungarian Jews that were deported to Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFYIRON, GALIL Mountain Winery’s flagship wine, offers particularly good value.(photo credit: GALIL MOUNTAIN WINERY)
Two bottles of the rare 1889 Tokaji Essencia wine, Zimmerman Lipot by the Jewish Zimmerman family, will go on auction July 8 of this year, according to a statement by the auction house Drewatts.The bottles hail from the renowned region of Tokaj in Hungary, known especially for crafting fine wines of the region within its revered vineyard. The Jewish Zimmerman family are one of the first winemakers within the region whose wine originates from the first vineyards of the 19th century until World War II.The family had numerous vineyards across the Tokaj region, boasting 60 cellars and an elegant townhouse in Mád, with a second residence in Abaújszántó.As winemakers, the family was revered as prized winemaker winning several gold medals in competitions in berlin in 1892 and Paris in 1896.The company continued to flourish, with offices in Budapest, Berlin, Katowice, London and New York, until the Nazi-occupation of Hungary in 1944.The Zimmerman family was one of the 437,402 Hungarian Jews that were deported to Auschwitz during the Holocaust. During which, the vineyards fell into disrepair and eventually taken over by the Soviet Union in 1945 after it captured the region, up until the 1980s.Following the fall of the Nazi regime, and the relinquishment of the region by the Soviet Union, the area of Tokaj was designated a world heritage site in 2002 for its land and vineyards.In 2016, six of the remaining descendants of the Zimmerman family unveiled plaques recognizing the Royal Tokaji wineries in Hungary and the family's links to this historic area."This was the home of Miklos and Blanka Zimmermann and their two children and the second notes the former home of Lajos and Margit Zimmerman," one of the plaques read. "The signs also go on to note the Zimmerman family’s long history of involvement in: the cultivation, production and marketing of Tokaji wines, since the early 1800s."The bottles being offered up for sale, are as of now, "exceptionally rare and are almost a slice of history," according to a statement by the auction house.
“One can almost distil the political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th century through Tokaji," said head of the wine department at Drewatts Mark Robertson. “The free run juice of the aszu grapes can take 6 or 7 years to ferment fully to a maximum 3-7%. This supernatural concentration of sweetness is beautifully married with an unusual level of acidity creating a wine that can age effortlessly across the centuries."Traditionally served on a crystal spoon, what an experience awaits," he added.Michael Broadbent, a master of wine describes it as: "“Several consistent notes. Most memorably, on my first visit to Budapest in 1972, with Josef Dömöter, Head of the Hungarian Wine Trust and Fred May, the UK Monimpex importer. Neither had ever tasted an old Eszencia before."I opened it in Herr Dömöter's office, to great wonder and satisfaction, and took the remaining half the following morning to Tokaj, where, in Tarcal, I had lunch with the technical Head of the Research Institute for Viticulture," Robertson added. "He didn't like it! Briefly: a deep, warm amber; glorious fragrance, rich, chocolatey, spicy; sweet of course, plump, concentrated taste of singed sultanas, excellent acidity. Last tasted in Leiden Nov 1982."“These are important bottles and I hope they are enjoyed with a chink of the glass to the man and his family who made them," he added.The two bottles are estimated at £500-£1,000 per 500 ml bottle and will be sold throughout two separate auctions.
