The Furmint Grape

(Synonyms: Bijeli, Edler Weisser, Gelber Furmint, Mislovai, Mosler, Moslovac, Posip, Sauvignon vert, Sipon, Tokay, Tokayu, Tokayer, Zapfner)

Background

Furmint is a white-wine grape originating in Hungary (though perhaps brought there many centuries ago from the Piedmont region of Italy). It is not infrequently used to make a usually monovarietal dry table wine (though sometimes it is blended with Hárslevelü and Sárga Muskotály), but most consider its best and highest use to be in the famed dessert wine Tokay (often spelt Tokaji), and it is that use that makes it generally considered one of the dozen and a half or so of world-class white-wine grapes (those in boldface in the varietals list to the left of the page). Today, production remains centered in Hungary, but also extends to Slovakia and Austria and a few other locales in the same general region. Most dry Furmint today comes from the Somló region (in northwest Hungary).

The grape is naturally a very high-acid and high-sugar one (as is normal for grapes often used for dessert wines). As a dry table wine, it has the potential to make wines of some power and complexity; notable flavor elements usually associated with Furmint wines are smoke, lime, and pear. As a dessert wine, it has those qualities plus many others: often cited are marzipan, blood orange, apricots, barley sugar,tobacco, tea, cinnamon, and even chocolate. (Per Oz Clarke.) Tokay being so eminent a wine, Furmint as a table wine had almost vanished till its revival in that use in recent years. As the world market is exposed to dry Furmint, it is reasonable to expect that the demand for it will rise significantly, considering its positive atributes. (On this site, we deal only with Furmint as a table-wine grape.)

Factoid: Furmint tends to be confused in the literature with several other grapes, notably Sauvignon Vert, Poŝip, and Grasă de Cotnari; some of the alternate names are really different grapes, but some alternate names for different grapes are also names used for Furmint. It’s a mess.

Some Descriptions of Furmint Wines

Wikipedia
“The grape has the potential to produce wines with naturally high levels of acidity with complex flavors derived from phenolic compounds in the juice and through brief contact with the grape skins. Furmint wines, particularly the botrytized dessert wines, can have immense aging potential…This potential comes from the balance of acidity and high levels of sugars in the wine which act as preservatives during the aging process. Dry styles of Furmint are characterized by their aroma notes of smoke, pears and lime.”
Wine Searcher
“Dry styles of Furmint are increasingly popular, and are marked out by their rich, sometime smoke-scented wines. Aromas of lime rind, pears and oranges are often described in such wines. As it ages, Furmint wines take on copper- and amber-like colors and nutty, spicy flavors.”
Tim Atkin
“It is an unusually versatile grape. The wines can vary in colour from the lighter, leaner, silver-green Furmints of Austria, right through to the deep golden versions from Hungary, with the Slovenian ones sitting somewhere in the middle. The grape is thought to take its name from froment, the French word for wheat, referring to the more common golden colour it displays. The typical aromas range from green apple and pear through to more tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple. It works well in a fruity, unoaked style, but it also takes very well to ageing in oak barrels. What all the dry styles have in common is a bright, vibrant acidity running through them, making them buzz with energy. Furmint is like a white grape supergroup. It’s got it all: the pungent aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc; the richness and oak-friendliness of Chardonnay; the minerality and acidity of Riesling. Somehow it manages to combine all these attributes into one unified whole. Not surprisingly, it is often a pretty intense experience.”
Royal Tokaji
“Furmint’s characteristics are clear, apricot and a hint of honey on the nose. The depth of fruit is balanced by its mineral backbone.”
Snooth
“Characteristics of the grape: natural acidity that adds structure to both dry and dessert wines. As a dry wine, flavors are pear, fresh apricot, peach, smoke.”
Blue Danube Wine Company
“Dry vinified Furmint has a bright, golden yellow color with greenish tints, a fruity bouquet reminiscent of ripe apples and hay with hints of spice, and the taste of peaches, apricots and walnuts. After aging in wood it develops an aroma of honey and walnuts. Rich in extract, it makes a heady, robust wine. ”
Jancis Robinson
“Furmint, known in Slovenia as Šipon, is of course the classic white grape variety of Hungary’s sweet, golden Tokaji but an increasing proportion of it, even in north east Hungary, is now being vinified dry and shows just how noble this grape variety is. Since about 2003, Hungarian growers have been experimenting with making dry whites from this fiery grape, trying out oak ageing and lees contact, and some of them even seeking out specific terroirs most suitable for dry white wine growing.”
Soilful Wines
“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…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.”

Some Furmints to Try

For a Splurge

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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