WTF is Furmint? (THE white wine from Hungary)

Show Notes

Episode 141: WTF is Furmint? (THE white wine from Hungary)  00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

If you are new to our podcast, here is a quick orientation! Each week, we explore a different wine varietal or blend — like Pinot Noir or Bordeaux or Furmint — and dive into what makes it unique, special, and worth learning about. Our goal is to help you expand your wine knowledge in a fun way that normal people can understand. We also taste and review 2-3 wines under $20 each, and share our scores and recommendations to help you find great wines without breaking the bank. Thanks for joining us again this week! And, we are proud to say that Decanter Magazine calls us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining.

Well, Carmela, after a couple of weeks of having an awesome adventure in Japan with our daughter, we are back. And, I will just say that both of us got a little sick on our trip, because that seems to be just what happens when you go on vacation, but that won’t stop me because this podcast is the most important thing we do every week - and, back to what we were talking about, we had a great time in Japan, right?

We did not drink a ton of wine while we were there - you had a couple of glasses, but I mostly drank beer, and I was sort of surprised to find that wine was not always super easy to find, and when they had it on menus, it was usually just listed as red or white. In fact, we went to a very nice omakase dinner on our first night in Osaka, and I have a little brag here, but you ordered the white wine of which there was only one, and then I tasted it and guessed that it was Riesling, and I was right!

But, it was much harder to find a good variety of wines than I expected, although, after going there, I now think I may know at least one why. Why do you think? Most of the places we ate were really small, and so having a variety of wines is just not smart or feasible - like, if you are selling wine by the glass and you have a small restaurant, you can’t really afford to have 5 different options. 

On a side note, I do really like Japanese beer, and I love that they serve it often in the bottle and then give you a little beer glass to drink it with. It makes you feel like you’re not drinking so much. 

We also did have some sake, and after trying it a few different times, I am finding that I am just not a big fan. We had a sparkling sake that one night in Kyoto at the curry restaurant, which was pretty good, and the curry was outstanding, one of the best meals we had. But, sake, sorry, I can live without it. 

Anyway, let’s get to the topic of the day because we could talk about Japan forever, it was such a great vacation, but we want to talk today about Furmint, which is a white wine from Hungary and is a wine that we have never had before but that we are very curious about!

As a way to get into the topic, let’s talk a little bit about the wine industry in Hungary based on some information I got from a website called Taste Hungary, which sounds like a place you should be able to trust, and I have a link to that website and lots of other links to places where we got information in our show notes.

First, Hungary is the 7th largest wine producer in Europe, and the 14th largest in the world, and they make about 300 million liters of wine per year, or about 400 million bottles, which accounts for about 1% of all of the wine produced in the world. So, not huge, but not a slouch either. For comparison, that is about twice as much wine as the state of Washington produces, and for another comparison, 300 million liters is about half of what E&J Gallo produces a year. For a further comparison, all of the vineyard land in Hungary could fit into the same acreage as Chianti in Italy. So there. Noodle on that. 

Most of the wine made in Hungary is white - in fact, about 70% of the wine is white - and Furmint is the third most produced wine. And they also export more white than red and in fact 80% of the wine they export is white wine, so if you are going to drink a wine from Hungary, you are most likely going to drink a white wine. 

The largest wine producing area in Hungary is Kunsag, where they make about a third of all of the wine in Hungary, and it is about the size - in terms of vineyard acreage - as Napa Valley in California. 

What is also interesting is that only about 65% of the wine they produce in Hungary gets bottled - the rest of it is sold in bulk, and the majority of the wine they export, which is only about a third of the wine they produce, is bulk wine. So, they only export about a third of the wine they produce, and of that wine that they export, less than half is sold in bottle form, and that, my friends, is one of the reasons that you may not see a ton of Hungarian wine. 

But we are not letting that stop us because their Furmint wine is a much beloved wine by many wine drinkers, and we want to see what all of the fuss is about, so we going to dig in a bit more into what Furmint is, and we have a couple of Furmint wines are going to drink today to tell you what we think and if they should be on your wine list . . . 

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug.

Thank you for listening to us and for supporting our show, and if you haven’t  had the chance to do so yet, now would be the perfect time to follow or subscribe to our podcast  - and thank you to all of you who have subscribed already! 

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And a few shoutouts to some listeners who reached out while we were out in Japan, all of them via DMs in Instagram, which we love. First, from a listener from Boston who has the instagram handle Lousypics, which is a great handle BTW, who reached out to us while we were in Japan - because they are from Japan - to let us know about some Japanese wines, and made a plug for egg salad sandwiches at Lawson and donuts from Mister Donut - and I had several egg sandos in Japan, but never got to the darn Mister Donut, although I tried. That was a super thoughtful note and came at a great time when we were in the heart of our trip! 

And then another shout out to Jason who sent us a suggestion for reviewing Fat Bastard Pinot Noir in one of our High QPR episodes, although now that I am looking over his DM he mentioned that the name was screaming something for us to try, and now I am wondering if he was taking a shot at my physique, but I will let it go. Jason also suggested potentially reviewing wines from Last Bottle, and so I am going to ponder that one. 

And another shout out to listener Emma who let us know she loves our podcast and that she listens on her way to work - which was really sweet and nice to hear, and very thoughtful of her to reach out to tell us.

And finally, a shout out to Bud who sent us an email this week and mentioned that he liked our Sake and Total Wine minisodes - thank you for that, Bud -  and suggested that we try out Vivino as a way to navigate the hell that is Total Wine. He didn’t say “hell” - that was my editorial comment. 

We just want to thank you all who take the time to reach out to us and let us know how you feel or give us suggestions and advice. It means a lot to us, and we really appreciate it! Keep it coming!

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should recommend The Wine Pair Podcast to - because the best way for us to grow listeners is when you tell your family and friends about us - your endorsement by word of mouth is just so valuable. This week, we want you to recommend us to anyone who is of Hungarian descent, or just anyone who is hungry, ba dum bum.

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://tastehungary.com/journal/hungarys-place-in-the-world-of-wine-in-numbers/ 

Topic: WTF is Furmint? 12:58

So, Carmela, let’s learn a little bit about just what the F Furmint wine is, ok?!?

First, if you have ever heard of or had the wine Tokaj (toe-kie) - which is spelled T-O-K-A-J (sometimes with an “I” at the end)  but is pronounced Toe-Kie or sometimes Tokay Asuz (ass-sue) - which is a sweet wine from Hungary and Slovakia, that is also made from the Furmint grape. Tokaj Asuz has been considered one of the great sweet wines in the world. But we are not focusing on the sweet wine as much today but more on the dry wine. 

Furmint is a white wine grape most commonly grown in the Tokaj region of Hungary and Slovakia, and is considered a native Hungarian grape. And, as you may have guessed by now, Furmint is made into wines of very different styles - from the dry whites we are going to drink today, to the very sweet Tokaj wines - and so you have to be very clear about what version of the wine you are going to drink when you look for it.

Furmint is a wine grape that goes by several different names. In Austria, it is known as Mosler, in Slovenia as Sipon, in Croatia and Serbia it is known as Moslavac, and it can also be found in Romania and several former Soviet states. 

When they want to make the dry version of the wine, they harvest the grapes in September, but when they make the sweet wine, they harvest it late in October after it has started to shrivel and be affected by what is called “noble rot” or Botrytis. Which sounds gross, but there you have it. 

Furmint has been growing in Hungary since at least the 16th century, and there are a variety of stories about how it found its way into Hungary, which you can find links to in our show notes. I am not going to go into it because it is confusing, and frankly, all of the people who know how it got there are dead. So, yeah. 

Furmint is a wine that flowers early and ripens late, and grows in elongated bunches and has relatively thick skin. I don’t know much of what to make of that, but thought you might want to know in case the shape and skin of the bunches matters to you. Which sounds dirty. 

As a dry wine, Furmint is said to be crisp, refreshing, and very aromatic, and is sometimes also described as being very acidic and can be high in alcohol. So, if you like acidic wines, which we do, this could be a great choice. To tame some of the acidity, some producers are blending the grape with other grapes or turning to barrel aging with some battonage - again, battonage is when the unfiltered wine is stirred to allow the lees and funk in the wine juice to infiltrate the wine and create some creaminess and tame the acidity. That style of wine is not always our favorite, but it is a style that many people, especially oaky Chardonnay lovers, appreciate. 

The bottle style of Furmint is also interesting. The body looks like a burgundy bottle with sloping shoulders, but the neck can be very long and thin, almost like a gooseneck. 

Because it is a versatile grape and it can be made into a wide variety of wines, there are those that say Furmint can be a wine grape that can fit all aspects of the meal - from a crisp, zippy stainless steel fermented appetizer wine, to a bigger bodied oaked wine for the main meal, to a rich dessert wine for the final course. 

So, I am really curious to try this wine to see what we think. It is always super fun in these WTF episodes to find new wines that we have never had before to see if there is yet another wine we can add to our list of wines to choose from. And, on that note, let’s find out more about the wines we are drinking today!

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furmint 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokaji
• https://winesofhungary.hu/grape-varieties/white-grape-varieties-white-wine-styles/furmint 
• https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/the-dry-side-of-furmint/?srsltid=AfmBOoqFUuF3TnIm5W6SBJHzggAM3io2Wx-HPXqBzNlHIZxHwZZfKZr3 
• https://tastehungary.com/journal/furmint-forever/ 
• https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/feb/15/wine-is-furmint-the-tastiest-grape-youve-never-heard-of
• https://secretsommelier.com/wine-posts-reviews/white-wine/589-the-ancient-furmint-grape-continues-to-impress 

Furmint Wines We Chose for This Episode 18:04

As usual, the wines we have chosen for this episode are under $20, and both of them should be relatively easy to find because I bought them at wine.com. Overall, Hungarian wines are not going to be super easy to find, however, if you go to a wine shop with a decent selection, you should be able to find Furmint in either the dry form or the sweet Tokaj form, or both.

The first wine we are drinking today is the 2021 Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint. According to some information on the interwebs Chateau Pajzos is considered one of the great producers in Tokaj, and the winery says that its sweet wines have been enjoyed by Monarchs and Emperors for centuries, Louis XV of France famously called Tokaji `Wine of Kings, King of Wines`. In 1991, the Pajzos estate was bought by Jean-Louis Laborde who also owns Chateau Clinet in Pomerol, Bordeaux.

I do have a tech sheet for the wine, so there is some decent information on it. The winery where the wine comes from is on rocky, volcanic soil, which is good for grapes because, as we have said before, wine grapes like to be stressed out. Interestingly enough, the winery says that the base of their sweet wine is the dry version of the wine, so they produce this wine separately, but also use it in production of their Tokaj Asuz wine, adding it to the super sweet wine in the production process.

This is an unoaked wine, and they very boldly say on their tech sheet that they are not sustainable, but the wine is vegan, so there’s that. And it is a screw cap!

The second wine we are going to drink is the 2022 Disznoko Dry Furmint which has gotten a lot of good reviews from different reviewers for this vintage and previous ones, and this vintage got a 91 from Wine Spectator and James Suckling, and a 90 from Wilfred Wong.

I was able to find a tech sheet for this wine as well, which is nice. They said that 2022 was a very hot and arid year, and so they actually harvested a little early in late August and early September. 

They also mention that they make the wine from many different plots of their Disznókő vineyard which they harvest and vinify separately and then blend together. They also talk about harvesting the grapes in small boxes, and they do not destem the wines, but press them with stems and all, which, as we have said before, can create a richer and more complex wine when you crush the grapes whole cluster, stem and all. They ferment in stainless steel but do not use malolactic fermentation, and they say the different lots were blended in December and the wine was aged on its lees in stainless steel vats for 3 months. So, I am expecting this will likely be a zippy wine with some complex flavors from the whole cluster and battonage treatment, which is kind of exciting. 

But, I think that is enough information - let’s get to drinking! We’ll take a quick break and be right back. And, although it is unlikely, if you have a Furmint wine, you can drink along with us! Now, if you drink any wine along with us, you get participation points, but you get triple points this week if you have a Furmint with us. 


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.elliswines.co.uk/print/pdf/node/1782
• https://wines.axamillesimes.com/RSR1KE/get/tech-sheet/1981PY1J1X 

2021 Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint, 2022 Disznoko Dry Furmint Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review 23:23

Wine: Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint (Click here to find this wine on wine.com. We may be compensated if you purchase)
Region: Hungary, Tokaj
Year: 2021
Price: $17.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 13%
Grapes: Furmint
Professional Rating: JS 89

What we tasted and smelled in this Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint:

• Color: Light yellow, vanilla colored, creamy
• On the nose: Gasoline, pear, apple, peach, orchard fruit and stone fruit, creaminess, vanilla ice cream
• In the mouth: Very crisp, some sweetness, apple crisp, pie crust, lemon or lemon grass, acidic, Granny Smith apple, for a very acidic wine it has a lot of body to it.

Food to pair with this Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint: Fish, pasta with shrimp, fish and chips, sushi, baked salmon, chicken dishes, creamy pasta
 
As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, with no half points, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and a 5 or 6 means we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint Wine Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Wine: Disznoko Dry Furmint (Click here to find this wine on wine.com. We may be compensated if you purchase)
Region: Hungary, Tokaj
Year: 2022
Price: $18.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 13.5%
Grapes: Furmint
Professional Rating: WS 91, JS 91, WW 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Disznoko Dry Furmint:

• Color: Pretty, light color, some viscosity
• On the nose: Aromatic, syrupy, fresh flowers, lily, apple, pear, peach, dried apricot
• In the mouth: Granny Smith apple, baking spices, cinnamon, gasoline, a hint of maple, brown sugar, peach pie caramelized, overly ripe pineapple, rich, relatively big mouthfeel

Food to pair with this Disznoko Dry Furmint: Pretty versatile, Thanksgiving, poultry, charcuterie board wine, stinky cheese, spicy foods, Indian food

Disznoko Dry Furmint Wine Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 7/10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint
• Joe: Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint

Taste profiles expected from Dry Furmint  36:21

• General 
  • WE: Pineapple, lemon blossom, orange rind, ripe pear, white peach, yellow peach and apricot
• Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint
  • Winery: The bright, fresh and zesty flavors range from grapefruit to apricot with notes of nuts, minerals, and spice.
  • JS: Very bright and fresh with mint and lime notes, this is sleek, but appealingly fruity and crisp on the medium-bodied palate
  • Champion Wine Cellars: leads with citrus and a brighter core that finishes with a lilting minerality that feels drier than the previous vintage. Upon opening, citrus notes of grapefruit and lemon zest come to the forefront, with peachy stone fruit and clementine at the core, balanced by hints of nutty baking spice. A deliciously bright and mineral-laden finish
• Disznoko Dry Furmint
  • Winery: Light straw yellow robe with green highlights. Very fresh, fruity nose with almond, white peach, stone fruits, and pear aromas. On the palate, the very fresh and tonic acidity is balanced by a good weight, with pleasant texture. An aromatic touch and minerality in the finish.
  • WS: Racy and mouthwatering, offering a fragrant overtone of petrol and ripe fruit that transitions to flavors of apple and mandarin orange peel, pineapple and dried mint, plus a touch of lanolin. Shows real drive and mineral character, with a well-spiced and persistent finish.
  • WW: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of chalky notes and bright citrus
  • JS: Attractive aromas of citrus fruit and white peaches, with hints of orchid blossom and fine herbs. Medium-bodied, polished and silky on the palate with clean acidity and mineral, saline undertones at the end.

So, Carmela, what is your take on Furmint? Really enjoyed it, a great wine to share as a conversation piece. Impress your friends!

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 40:00

Ok, so, Carmela, it’s time for us to go, but before we do, we want to thank you very much for listening to us - and if you haven’t done so yet, now would be the perfect time to follow or subscribe to our podcast and also a fantastic time to leave us a nice rating and review on our website or Apple podcasts or other podcast app - and it is an awesome and free way to support us and help us grow listeners.

We would also love to hear from you about a wine you would like us to taste and review. You can leave a message for us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com and you can join our email newsletter there - and if you missed our latest newsletter, email me and I will send it to you. You can do that by reaching out at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com. And tell us some things you want to hear us do, or not hear us do!

Alright, with that, we are going to sign off, so thanks again, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.


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