A bejegyzés magyar változatát itt éri el.
"I hang around the vineyard top with a sweet Furmint cluster.
The Sun is setting.
Meanwhile:
the branches and roes go off
above!
above!
in the drying woods...Darling!
please, once observe this wondrous landscape!!!Reminiscent of a frayed flowers meaty, warm petals."
- Andor Simon
This is the 10th year in a row that we celebrate Furmint February, and it's first day, International Furmint Day. The enthusiasm towards the variety is nothing new - the first star was Királyudvar's 2000 Úrágya Furmint, and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then: the new Tokaj dry wine bottle, lots of dry Furmints and vineyard selections (of which Mád's Szent Tamás vineyard seems to have the most potential), international marketing campaigns, and Furmint February itself has gained a lot of traction. There are lots of reasons to love and promote the variety: this is the most planted grape in the Tokaj wine region, it has massive potential, great acid structure, and tends to communicate Tokaj's terroir well. It also bears resemblance with Austria's Grüner Veltliner (and we have a tendency to blindly copy our neighbors' success stories), and most importantly: it's easy to pronounce. Furmint's getting more popular by the day, and it seems unstoppable.
Furmint February '19 tasting at 67 Pall Mall, London, on the 30th of January 2019. The grandiose Furmint tasting hosted lots of guests and was a massive success (photo courtesy of Joanna Simon )
The road to success, however, is never an easy one: as of now, the Furmint-fad prevails mostly inside Hungary, and Furmint (even though it's the most planted variety in Tokaj) is scarce: the huge demand in the market and the scarcity of the variety produces massive price hikes between vintages. Scarcity poses another important question: let's suppose we do make it, Furmint becomes the new international white wine trend. Now, what stops a new world investor from planting a few thousand acres of the grape and leaving Hungary behind in a decade's time? This is hardly preventable, except maybe instead of Furmint, we could champion Dry Tokaj. Tokaj is also easy to pronounce, the wine community knows the name already, and unlike plants, terroir cannot be appropriated by other wine regions. Another argument in favor of this solution is Hárslevelű (aka Lipovina). The variety seems to be unjustly ignored for the sake of the Furmint brand, even though it produces more fruity and gentle wines, and it also works great in white blends. Using the Dry Tokaj brand, this wouldn't cause a problem either, and I've heard many people suggest that we're shooting ourselves in the foot by abandoning the grape. Despite these concerns, the Furmint campaign is given a full throttle, and it seems to be successful. And Hungarian wines' success always warms my heart. So as to not miss FurmintDay, I too cracked open a nice bottle of Furmint, namely Gróf Degenfeld Winery's 2016 vintage.
The iconic label fits the newly introduced Dry Tokaj bottle perfectly, the National Wine Excellency badge is fully justified
100% Furmint. Pale, almost see through appearance with a touch of straw. The nose is dominated by the terroir, with hints of lime oil, apple peel, and just a little bit of greenness. The palate starts with a gentle touch of CO2, then come the youthful yet elegant acidity. The palate is medium-bodied, curvy, elegant and clean. Lots of minerality, pears, citrus accompanied by a touch of sweetness makes this wine complex, elegant yet easy to drink and enjoy. The finish has medium length, dominated by the terroir, and rounded with the semi-dry taste. I dare call this wine a gold standard among Furmints, and even though I had my initial doubts (2850 Ft (=€9) seemed a bit much for a Furmint with a screwcap), this wine is well worth it's price. If you're new to the variety, or just want do drink something really pleasant, look no further! (87/100)
