When talking about noble wine grapes, chances are good that Furmint isnât on the tip of your tongue (figuratively, or literally). Which is a shame, because its white wines might be some of the most interesting that youâre not (yet) drinking.
Among the descriptors that you might read on a Dry Furmint back-labelâzesty, with orange, limes, and flint notes when young; nutty spices and dried fruit flavors after agingâyou wonât find its most distinguishing characteristic: irony.
While grown in Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, South Africa, and the USA, most Furmint is found in nearly 10,000 acres of plantings in Hungary, almost all in Tokaj (pronounced Tok-eye). That relative scarcity hasnât stopped Furmint from quietly building a reputation for producing excellent, long-lived dry wines, earning gold medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, and becoming a critical and taste-maker darling. Here are some of the more fascinatingâand ironicâaspects of Furmint. Â
An Old âNewâ Grape
The biggest irony surrounding Furmint is that it took so long to realize that it could make world-class dry wines. Wines produced using Furmint have been documented as far back as the 1570s (in Tokajâs HĂ©tszĆlĆ vineyard). Along with the grape HĂĄrslevelƱ, Furmint has for centuries been a key component in sweet botrytized Tokaji AszĂș wines, which by the 1800s were considered the worldâs best. AszĂș was literally the wine of kings: entire vineyards (such as the newly-restored Ăreg KirĂĄly plantings) were at one time earmarked to make wines exclusively for royalty.
It might seem obvious that ripe Furmint grapes should make excellent dry wines, given that their overripe counterparts made such celebrated and age-worthy wines historically. Ironically, that simply wasnât the case. âThis focus on single vineyard Furmints is very recent here; it emerged only in the past two decades,â notes ErzsĂ©bet Cellars estate manager Hajni PrĂĄcser. âTokajâs historical vineyards are yielding exceptional dry wines year to year, wines that display remarkable nuances of character from site to site.â
Humble Grape, Royal Parentage
Dry Furmintâs steady, humble emergence on the fine wine scene belies the vinous royalty of its genetic parentage. DNA analysis has shown a parent/offspring relationship between Furmint and Gouais Blanc. A 1999 discovery revealed that Gouais Blanc and Pinot Noir are the natural parents of sixteen grape varieties, such as Gamay Noir and Chardonnay, and that Furmint is the offspring of Gouais Blanc and another unkown grape (check out Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes for more on the grape’s heritage). Significantly, this means that Furmint is directly related to the famous Gamay grape of Beaujolais, as well as to the even more famous Riesling and Chardonnay.Â
All Legend, No Origin Story
Furmintâs final irony is that we donât know from where, exactly, it came, despite having no shortage of legends expounded over its origins.
As reported in Wine Grapes, most of Furmintâs origin legends seem hell-bent on making the grape Italian (itâs not). One such tale has Furmint finding its way to Tokaj in the early twelfth century, courtesy of Italian missionaries, at the invitation of King Stephen II. Another suggests Furmint was brought to Hungary by colonists from Italyâs Formia. Yet another, more romantic tale sees the grape being introduced by the Count of Formentin, an Italian soldier from Colio who settled in Tokaj after the Seven Yearsâ War. We can eliminate the latter story based on historical record (mention of Furmint in Hungary predates the Seven Yearsâ War). The former two legends are more mundanely undermined by genetic evidence: there are at least four distinct types of Furmint in Tokaj that share a DNA profile, strongly suggesting that the grape originated there.
Suggested Producers
Balassa Winery, Barta Pince, BĂ©res Winery, DobogĂł, ErzsĂ©bet Cellars, Gizella Cellar, GrĂłf Degenfeld, HĂ©tszĆlĆ, Holdvölgy Winery, Kvaszinger Winery, Majoros Estate, Szent DonĂĄt Winery, Szepsy
Sources:
- Interviews and video work during FurmintUSA.com program
- https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-178-furmintÂ
- Wine Grapes, Jancis Robinson, Kindle Edition
- https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-178-furmint
- https://hungarytoday.hu/hungarian-white-wines-win-big-san-francisco-international-competition-83261/Â
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furmint Â