By the 14th century, the town already had a stone castle, belonging to the Diósgyőr estate.

In 1526, after the Ottomans captured Petervarad (modern day Petrovaradin, Serbia), Cistercians from Petervarad and its surroundings relocated to Tokaj and greatly improved wine making in the area.

It is one of the seven larger wine regions of Hungary (Hungarian: Tokaji borrégió).

Hegyalja means "foothills" in Hungarian, and this was the original name of the region.

The region consists of 28 named villages and 11,149 hectares of classified vineyards, of which an estimated 5,500 are currently planted.