White wine process of secondary fermentation of champagne. The enrichment of some of the population created a craze for rare wines. This phenomenon, which was already responsible for the development of sherry in England, was reproduced in Central Europe. The discovery of the benefits of the noble rot on white grapes took place around 1650 in Hungary for the development of Tokaji wine. Hugh Johnson declared that: "the Tokay of three centuries ago was the best sweet wine in the world, it was inherited from a long-standing winemaking tradition". Developed with a grape whose exceptional maturity is due to a trade secret,
Tokaj wine region belonged at the time. Indeed, revenues from the increasingly renowned Tokaji Aszú wine helped to pay for the wars of independence fought against Austrian Habsburg rule. The repute of Tokaji wine was enhanced when in 1703, Francis II Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania, gave King Louis XIV of France a gift of numerous bottles of wine from his Tokaj estate. Tokaji wine was then served at the Versailles Court, where it became known under the name of Tokay. Delighted with the precious beverage, Louis XIV declared it ""Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum"" ("Wine of Kings, King of Wines"). In the 18th Century,