Poking around NYC wine shops, restaurants, and wine bars, I’ve started seeing more and more Dry Furmint. While I’d had them in the past, the last couple of weeks I’ve had the pleasure to taste a couple, and I’ve really enjoyed them. Across the spectrum, they’ve been complex with good acidity and very well priced! The wines from Kiralyudvar are routinely good, and an example from Szepsy showed a more full bodied style that was so interesting.
Anyone else a Dry Furmint fan and could make recommendations? Or am I the only person this side of Hungary that is actually drinking them?
The best to me are by Istevan Szepsy. (Formerly of Kiralyudvar until Huet purchased it in 2006)
These are excellent wines and real deals too.
Get the single vineyard wines Thurzo etc.
Great stuff.
Jon,
Furmint is a strange grape. It has the highest tannin levels of any of the white grapes. So if you find one made as
an “orange” wine, probably best to flee in the other direction. But I’ve not seen Furmint done w/ skin contact…yet.
But, no doubt, someone will try it.
Two that I tasted back in April from DarrellCorti:
RoyalTokaji Mezes MalyVnyd Furmint Dry Tokaji Wine (1592 btls; 13.5%) 2009> : Light gold color; rather fragrant/perfumed
somewhat earthy/dusty/chalky fairly spicy/peppery light oak very interesting nose; rather dry/austere/tart quite
perfumed/floral/spicy/peppery some earthy/dusty/chalky very interesting/attractive flavor; long rather spicy/peppery/
quite floral/perfumed/aromatic tart/dry/austere finish; a bit like a dry Semillon from HunterVlly w/o the oak;
a very interesting aromatic white w/ structure that will probably age well; fairly priced at $35.00 (CB)
RoyalTokaji Furmint Dulovalogatas (38% Betsek/62% Uragya; 2036 btls; 14%) 2009> : Light gold color; rather earthy/
dusty/metallic slight floral/root cellar/wet pavement weak fruit nose; rather tart earthy/dusty/mineral some
camphor light butterscotch/peppermint ribbon candy very light floral rather austere/lean/chalky flavor; long
tart/lean/austere bit metallic/wet pavement/peppermint light floral finish; rather strange but interesting/austere
wine. $33.50 (CB)
Jon - there aren’t a lot imported. I’ve been drinking them since 1990 or so, and I can say that they’ve improved by light years since the early ones. Don’t forget, they’re relatively recent. Szepsy didn’t believe they should even be made because it was a waste of good grapes that could be made into a sweet wine. It’s really the economics of the wine industry that changed his mind and he set out to make some good ones. I have no idea where you’ll get them in the US tho. He has a blend and then he’s got some single-vineyard bottlings. I have a few that I’ve been sitting on for a few years because I think they should age.
But then that’s a problem. The wines from Kiralyudvar for example, have serious oxidation problems. They’re pretty good when fresh but if you keep them for a year or so, you have no idea what might happen. BTW - his departure wasn’t related to Wang’s purchase. At least that’s what he told me.
The best I’ve had aren’t imported or made in significant quantity. The Oremus people make a cheap one that’s not really very good - Mandolas.
If you can find it, one of the best QPRs is from Dereszla. Nice wine and nice price. Bott is another that you’ll never find but is certainly worth seeking out. The winemaker used to work for Fuleky, another good producer, but she went out on her own. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Alana - one of the newer but fabulous producers in Tokaj. They are actually imported to some parts of the US because part of the family lives in the US and they’re the importers. Seek them out if you can.
Since Rick can’t find his notes, I’ll chime in. We have a wine group member who is of Hungarian stock (I get the feeling he would be a landed patrician if not for the events of the last 60-80 years).
we tried the tokaji pezsgo 2008 (sparkling–actual “glittering” inHungarian) from Kiralyudvar, plus the 2007 K. Furmint, 2008 Paticius, 2009 Oremus, and 2009 Bott, then tried similar wines in their Tokaji bottrytis form.
the dry wineswere interesting–allover the map. the sparkiling wine was abit like a dry chenin sparkler. the others ranged from an oaky oremus, not bad, to the Bott, which was a bit like an Alsace Pinot blanc.
Interesting wines. If the better small produceers could get better distribution here, might be a good source for mineral, not too expensive dry whites.
Some friends and I will be travelling from Munich to Budapest for two weeks this fall, and I’ve been trying to preview the local wines. I found a 2009 Királyudvar Tokaji Sec locally in Portland, which I enjoyed, but I’m a complete novice when it comes to this grape and this region.
Assuming that the U.S. only sees a fraction of the good stuff, any recommendations for visits when I’m in Hungary? Or maybe a great wine bar or place to taste in Budapest?
Thanks for the knowledge, Greg! The Szepsy tasting I did was with a friend who had recently visited and brought the wines back. I’ll seek out these producers and see what I can find.