Tokaji Natural Sweet Wines and the Resilience of a Cultural Wine Landscape: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Consumer Study in Hungary

Abstract

Tokaji natural sweet wines are climate-sensitive cultural-heritage products. Their production depends on Botrytis cinerea, autumn humidity, dry ripening periods and grape varieties authorized by the Tokaj PDO, while their market future depends on consumer learning, gastronomy, wine tourism and regional sustainability. This exploratory mixed-methods study reframes consumer acceptance of Tokaji sweet wines as a socio-ecological resilience problem. A structured narrative review of peer-reviewed and official sources was combined with an anonymous cross-sectional online survey of Hungarian adult wine consumers not working in viticulture or winemaking (N=100; 30 July 2024-26 August 2024). Respondents were classified as current Tokaji sweet-wine consumers/buyers (n=37), rejecters (n=43) and potential consumers (n=20). Likert-scale variables were analysed by descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis tests, Holm-adjusted Mann-Whitney comparisons and Spearman rank correlations. Flavour was the most important wine-choice factor in all groups (mean 4.73-4.80/5) but did not differ significantly between groups (H=0.12, p=0.944). Group differences were strongest for sweet-wine beliefs: rejecters agreed more with the statement "I do not like the flavour of sweet wine" (mean 3.21) than current consumers (mean 1.41), while current consumers attached higher symbolic and gift value to Tokaji sweet specialities. Because the sample was small, urban, highly educated and non-representative, the results should be interpreted as pilot evidence. The paper proposes a regenerative wine-tourism and consumer-education model linking product knowledge, food pairing, heritage interpretation and climate-adaptive viticulture to the resilience of the Tokaj cultural landscape.