I love when I pick a random bottle at my wine shop and end up not just being pleasantly surprised, but genuinely happy with a feeling that I’ve come across a new gem! I have a tendency to pick wines from relatively unknown regions made from obscure varieties. I somehow feel like there is more to learn from a wine that is not as popular; the research is more interesting and it’s always fun to ‘discover’ a new product. Most of the times, this is also where you can find extraordinary bargains, and that always makes me feel good!
Hungarian wine is not exactly new to the scene, largely due to the world renown, and delicious sweet dessert wine,Tokaji Aszu, from the Tokaj region. But what may not be general knowledge, is that this region produces some fantastic dry wines as well. As a country, it makes some remarkably good white wines, outstanding sweet wines and their red wines are slowly improving. Outside investment from both western European and Australian companies have helped put Hungary back on the map, and there is renewed interest in native grapes such as Furmint, Harslevelu and Irsai Oliver for whites, Kefrankos (Blaufrankisch) and Kadarka for reds. Big money is spent to renew equipment, upgrade the vineyards and identifying the best plots for their native grapes. I am happy to see this happening, as Hungary for centuries had a very sophisticated food and wine culture with the most developed indigenous grape varieties and cultivated wine laws in eastern Europe, so a comeback is definitely overdue!
Tokaji wines comprise of four groups: 1) still table wine, 2) Szamorodni which may be dry or sweet and is a mix of ordinary and aszu grapes, 3) wines made using aszu grapes called Esszencia and Aszu (of various degrees of sweetness) as well as two derivative wines, Forditas and Maslas and 4) late-harvest and noble late-harvest wines, similar to those made elsewhere in the world. (The Wines of Hungary by Alex Liddell). The greatest amount of wine made in the region is however still, dry table wine – and is what I will focus on in this post.
Many dry white wines are made from the Furmint grape, which is a very high quality grape that probably originated in Hungary. The grape forms the major part of plantings in Tokaj (about 70%) and is known for its complexity of flavor, its finesse, longevity, high acidity and sometimes high alcohol. Young wines, such as the AFFINITAS Tokaj bottle I bought earlier this week, can have flavors of lime peel, pears and some steeliness if made in the correct way. Sometimes picking at the wrong times can affect the ability of the flavors to come out, where perhaps the acidity is piercing high but the flavor is subdued. When made into sweet wines, Furmint can achieve flavors of apricot, marzipan and blood orange, and with age they develop smoky and spicy flavors with tea, chocolate, cinnamon and tobacco notes.
Furmint is also found in Austria, where it’s called Mosler, in Slovenia as Sipon, in Croatia where DNA profiling has shown that it is identical to Moslavac, as well as in Romania and Albania, just to name a few. Furmint is probably an offspring to the Gouais Blanc grape, planted in central and north-eastern France. Furmint is also the principal ingredient in the world famous Tokaji dessert wine. Furmint has had a historical stronghold in Austria’s Burgenland where it is experiencing somewhat of a revival as well.
The Tokaji region is located on the foothills of the Carpathian mountains in northeastern Hungary, and consists of about 28 villages. The soil in the region are volcanic clay, poor on the steeper slopes, with more loess and sand around Tokaji. The soil has volcanic origins, which gives wines a high content of minerality . Warm summers with humidity coming form the area’s streams and rivers, create a perfect environment for Botrytis Cinera (referred to by Hungarians as Aszu).
The AFFINITAS Furmint wine is made from 85% Furmint and 15% Muscat Blanc. Muscat adds richness and some floral, perfumed fragrances as well as honeysuckle flavors to the mix, in addition to peach and sometimes orange blossom. The grapes are hand harvested, de-stemmed and fermented in stainless steel without further ageing. My tasting notes will follow below.
If looking to expand your repertoire and tasting experiences beyond the classic grapes such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio for summer whites – I highly recommend you try out Furmint wines from Hungary. Hopefully you will be as delighted as I was!
Tasting Notes:
The wine has a pale, light lemon, almost greenish core. On the nose, I get a lot of grass and citrus on the nose (the classic lime peel is evident). Very clean with an herbaceous freshness. While the nose is lean and citrusy, the palate is somewhat fat, soft with flavors of ripe pears, apples, peach, and apricots. A medium bodied wine, it has some spice as well (white pepper mostly). I get the honeysuckle and apricots mid palate from the Muscat. The acidity is more medium leveled here – perhaps again because of the blending with the lower acid Muscat grape. While fruity and soft on the attack and through mid palate, verging on being slightly off dry, it finishes more on a grassy note.
Conclusion: Really nice example of a dry Furmint wine that I found refreshing and well made. Could perhaps do with a bit more acidity to bring it all into balance, so half a point was deducted for this.
One general note that will be true for all wines but especially for this, I found : I think the serving temperature is especially important here; if you serve it straight out of the fridge (too cold) the aromas and flavors do not come out, but having it sit in room temp too long and the wine’s structure tends to fall apart and become limp.
Rating: 3.5/5
Food Pairing:
Retail: $17
I purchased the wine at Artisan Wines in Beacon, NY. Tel (845) 440-6923.
SOILFUL WINES 