Grape variety
Furmint
Furmint, the grape of Tokaj: its origin, dry and sweet wines, aszú and szamorodni, cousins in Slovenia and Austria, and what to eat with it.
- Colour
- White
- Origin
- Hungary; DNA shows a parent–offspring relationship with Gouais Blanc, probably as its offspring
- Main regions
- Tokaj (60 to 70 per cent of the area), Somló; also Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Austria
- Synonyms
- Šipon (Slovenia), Moslavac (Croatia), Mosler and Zapfner (Austria)
- Typical aromas
- Dry: apple, pear, lime, smoke; sweet: apricot, honey, blood orange, marzipan
- Classic pairing
- Dry with fish and poultry; aszú with foie gras, blue cheese and apricot dessert
Furmint is the grape of Tokaj and one of the few from which both dry wines and some of the world’s most famous sweet wines are made. It ripens late, keeps a great deal of acidity and is so prone to noble rot that in autumn the berries shrivel and concentrate. High acidity and noble rot explain the wine’s reputation: it has sweetness and yet stays lively. DNA analysis shows a parent–offspring relationship with Gouais Blanc, a grape widely grown in the Middle Ages that also stands behind Riesling, Chardonnay and Gamay; Furmint is probably its offspring.
The region lies in the far north-east of Hungary, around the town of Tokaj, where the Bodrog flows into the Tisza; a small part belongs to Slovakia. Furmint makes up 60 to 70 per cent of the roughly 5,500 hectares, followed by Hárslevelű and yellow Muscat. The soils are volcanic, autumn mists from the rivers encourage noble rot, and the wine cultural landscape has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002. Outside Tokaj, Furmint in Hungary grows mainly in the small region of Somló.
The most famous wine is Tokaji Aszú. The berries shrivelled by noble rot are picked one by one and steeped in must or base wine, and under current rules the wine then ages for at least three years, at least 18 months of them in cask. The number of “puttonyos”, from 3 to 6, originally counted the baskets of aszú berries per cask and is now based on the sugar and sugar-free extract of the finished wine. Szamorodni, roughly “as it grew”, is made from whole bunches and can be dry or sweet, and eszencia, the juice that runs off the aszú berries by itself, is an extremely sweet nectar with very little alcohol.
Dry Furmint has counted as a style of its own only since the turn of the millennium, with single-vineyard wines of apple, pear, lime and smoke, firm acidity and the stony minerality of volcanic soil; good wines last for many years. Outside Hungary the grape is called Šipon in Slovenia, where it grows mainly in the north-east along the Drava, and Moslavac in Croatia, where it is almost always made dry. In Austria, where it is called Mosler or Zapfner, it covers only a few hectares, mostly around Rust in Burgenland. Dry Furmint goes with fish, poultry and pork, aszú with foie gras, blue cheese and apricot desserts. To know both faces, buy a dry Furmint and an aszú from the same house and you will find the same grape behind them.