Dry or dryish, Hungarian Furmint is having a moment (#winePW)

Scan the wine labels on grocery shelves or small retail shops and the usual suspects will catch your eye: exports from the leading wine-producing countries – France, Italy, Spain – as well as a smattering of bottles from the so-called “new world” (North and South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand).

There’s another category these purveyors tend to overlook – the wine from countries where winemaking got its start, places like Georgia and Cyprus. Andrea from The Quirky Cork, our host for this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend (#winePW) event, calls them “under-the-radar European wine regions.” Please read her preview post to learn how she defines this topic. My fellow bloggers and I will be talking about these wines Saturday 4/10 on Twitter, starting at 8 am PT/11 am ET. Simply follow the hashtag to join us.

After skipping around town and conducting an informal and not-very-scientific poll, I found that the most frequently represented, “under-the-radar European” country is Hungary and the wine is generally Furmint.

By Furmint, I don’t mean Aszú Furmint, the famous Tokaj (“toe-kye”) dessert wine blended with Hárslevelü and Muscat Lunel. The Tokaj Furmint that’s having a moment in the spotlight right now is dry or “dryish” – that is, it’s fermented with a little bit of residual sugar or blended with Muscat. Or it may gain a little sweetness from a few shriveled Botrytis (noble rot) grapes that drop into the harvest bin.

The region and the grape

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002, Tokaj has the world’s oldest classification system, dating back to 1730, several decades before Port wine and 120 years before Bordeaux. The region is named after the town of Tokaj, its former commercial center, and encompasses 27 towns and villages.

Vineyards are located in northeastern Hungary, near the border with Slovakia and Ukraine and cover over 12,000 acres, most planted on south-facing slopes. The climate is continental with relatively cold winters; long, sunny summers; and dry, sunny early autumns. Morning fog rising from the Bodrog and Tisza rivers in autumn creates ideal conditions for Botrytis. Early-budding and late-ripening Furmint is especially prone to Botrytis.

(Spoiler alert: Climate change is having a major impact on vineyards worldwide. In Tokaj, that means the number of vintages benefiting from Botrytis is likely to drop, and winemakers will be forced to make Furmint into dry wines.)

Though Furmint is mostly grown in the Tokaj region, it also appears, to a much lesser extent, in the Somló region, on the Great Central Plains of Hungary. Furmint is found in other countries, too, such as Slovakia; in Austria, where it is known as Mosler; and in Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and the former Soviet Union republics.

The name “Froment” refers to the wheat color of the wine that Furmint produces. It was widely believed that the grape originated in Hungary. However, recent DNA profiling conducted at the University of Zagreb has shown that Furmint may be an offspring of the Gouais Blanc grape. Similar research elsewhere has shown Gouais Blanc to be a parent of numerous other varieties, including Chardonnay. Furmint has also been confirmed as the same grape as Moslavac, a Croatian white variety.

The wine – 2018 Evolúció Furmint
85% Furmint, 15% Yellow Muscat

Siema Wines is a distributor and importer of boutique wines from all over the world. The company represents more than 700 small, mostly family-owned estates engaged in organic or sustainable farming and producing natural and low-intervention wines as well as some breweries and distilleries.

Evolúció is a wine from 30-year-old Furmint vines growing on a mix of volcanic soils in the Tokaj region. These soils retain heat and allow grapes to ripen fully, resulting in fruity wines with minerality. Grapes are hand harvested, destemmed and pressed gently, and the juice is fermented cold in stainless-steel tanks without further aging. This Furmint is blended with a small amount of Moscato Giallo (Yellow Muscat), a white Italian variety from the Muscat family of grapes.  

My tasting notes: Straw in color. Peach and white flowers on the nose. Tangy, off-dry palate with lemon upfront, followed by pineapple and a touch of minerality at the end of a medium+ finish. Medium+ acidity. Round mouthfeel. Balanced and easy-drinking wine. Some liken this style of Furmint to a cross between Riesling and Chardonnay. Alcohol: 12.5%. Price: $14.99.

The pairings: When I picked up this wine at Whole Foods, I routinely turned to the back label and noticed that Sushi is a recommended pairing. So bottle in hand, I headed over to the Sushi counter where the special of the day was spicy salmon. Yes, please. I added a veggie roll and triumphantly returned home to chill the wine for a light, easy and excellent lunch.

The following day, the lunch menu consisted of store-bought spicy lentil wraps with spicy tahini sauce, salsa verde and corn chips. Another terrific pairing! Both days, the wine eased the spicy heat of the food, and the food brought out the pineapple in the wine. These pairings prove that you don’t need a complex wine or complicated dish to create an enjoyable meal. Egészségedre!

Sources: Empire Wine, Siema Wines, The Buyer, Toast Wines, Tokaj Wine Region.

Looking for more on off-the-radar European wine regions? Check out all the blog posts linked below:

• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla posts From the Same Latitude as Other Pinot Noir Powerhouses: The 2017 Macedon Pinot Noir Matches Two Meaty Dinners.
• Jeff at Food, Wine, Click! focuses on Under the Radar in Croatia with Franc Arman Teran.
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator tries 3 Wines from Sicily’s Etna Volcano Paired with Pork Sugo.
• Kat from The Corkscrew Concierge takes us Beyond Wine – Kosovo’s Stone Castle Vineyards Provides Pride, Hope & Jobs.
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass features Dry or Dryish, Hungarian Furmint is Having a Moment.
• Nicole at Somm’s Table explores Stranger Grapes with Eric Danch of Danch & Granger Selections.
• Susannah from Avvinare shares Slovenia Wines from Brda, Not to Be Missed.
• Terri from Our Good Life looks at Ancient Gamza in 2021: Best Wine with Burgers from Eastern Europe.
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm has Georgia On My Mind.
• Andrea at The Quirky Cork takes A Deep Dive into Hungarian Wine!