Furmint tasting by Wines of Hungary

Unfined and unfiltered furmint bubbles

This was a broad ranging tasting with much more than could be tasted in one day presented at a well organized walk-around at Painters’ Hall in London courtesy of Wines of Hungary.

This time I decided to focus on still 100% dry furmint wines, leaving aside the sweet ones which I had had occasions to taste in the past.

Below are my notes from the most interesting glasses of furmint I had a chance to taste today.

Garamvari Estate

2019 Balaton sparkling: zesty, fresh, ready now but with some potential for evolution. Score 86

2016 Tokaji sparkling: fragrant, evolved and mature. Score 89

TR Wines Tokaji 

Organic pet-nat 2022. Slightly bitter and opaque because it is unfined and unfiltered. Floral notes. An intriguing wine much different from all the others. Score 90.

Beres Tokaji

Locse furmint 2017. A complex wine with a slight bitter ending, well balanced and mod long. Score 90

DHP Tokaji

Nyergesek 2019. A mid-range balanced wine with mod length. Score 88

Szent Tamas Summit 2018. Their best and most complex wine. Score 90

Harsanyi Winery - Tokaji

Dry Szamorodni. Bone dry, almonds Slight bitter ending. Score 86

Spiegelberg Artisan Winery - Somlo

Harslevelu 2013. Balanced and complex, slight bitter ending. Score 89

Sauska - Tokaji

Birsalmas 2019. Complex and long. Score 92

Szepsy - Tokaji

Furmint 2018. Balanced fragrant. Score 89

Hetszolo organic vineyards - Tokaji

Dry selection 2011. Well aged wine, slight bitterness, balanced. Score 93

The 2018 is still young, I scored it 88 but it isnot ready yet.

sorry I forgot to shave today!

Furmint walkaround tasting in London

Vintner's Hall Seal

Fifth London edition of this event, with some 100 wines presented for tasting to a trade crowd that filled the room at Vintner's Hall on a cold February morning. As Caroline Gilby, an expert of Central European wines put it, furmint is now not only recognized for its traditional sweet wines, but for fresh dry ones as well.

Below are some notes from the wines I found most interesting.

Harsányi Winery, Tokaj

Szamorodni 2015 dry furmint, 15%

The best wine from this producer, nutty with a pleasant bitter ending. Score 91

Holdvölgy - Tokaj

Vision 2019, furmint and hárslavelü, kabar, 13.5%

Their entry level dry wine, fresh with a good balance. Score 90

Expression, hárslavelü, 14%

French oak makes for a rounder final result. Score 90

Intuition, Furmint, 13.5%

Zesty, intense aromas. Score 90

Royal Tokaj - Tokaj

Mezes Maly Dry Szamorodni furmint, 2016, 12.5%

Fully dry fermented after botrytis but loses alcohol during maceration. Score 90

Blue Label Aszu 5 puttonyos 2017, furmint and hárslavelü, 11%

Sweet. Score 90

Nyulaszo Aszu 6 puttonyos furmint 2017, 10-5%

Their best sweet. Score 92

Hungary decanted: a walkaround tasting

A most interesting tasting hosted at the Hungarian Embassy in London. In their own words: walk around tasting will showcase Decanter World Wine Awards “Best in Show”, Platinum and Gold medallist Hungarian wines, including Best in Show wines Juliet Victor Tokaji Szamorodni 2017 (Best in Show 2020) and St Andrea Nagy-Eged Bikavér, Eger (Best in Show in 2021).

Over 30 DWWA award winning sparkling, dry and sweet wines from around 20 producers will be available to taste from all over Hungary. Producers include: Balassa Bor, Grof Degenfeld Wine Estate, Maul Winery, Kreinbacher, Zelna Boraszat, Szent Andrea Winery, Vesztergombi.

Prevalence of white wines and especially sweet ones. Just by way of reminders, Hungary uses the unit of "puttonyos" to indicate the degree of sweetness of its wines. Here are my favorite takeaways:

Grand Tokaj - Tokaj

From the largest winery in the historic Tokaj region, the company owns 67 hectares of land and purchases grapes from 1000+ farmers in the area.

Aszú 6 puttonyos 2014, furmint

Perfect balance, 10% abv, Score 96

Aszú 5 puttonyos 2014, furmint

Too fresh, needs a bit time, abv 9.5%, Score 90

Esszencia 2013, blend of 6 grapes

abv 2.5%!, very syrupy, I can hardly call this a wine, 450g of residual sugar, but it will please those with a very sweet tooth.

Gróf Degenfeld - Tokaj

Aszú selection 6 puttonyos 2017, blend of furmint and other grapes

Ripe apricots, plump consistency. Perfect balance, very long. abv 10.5%.Score 96

Aszú 5 puttonyos 2016, Hárslevelü and furmint

A balanced and mod long wine. abv 10%. Score 92

Aszú 6 puttonyos 2017, Hárslevelü and furmint

A majestic wine, perfectly balanced, plump, long and complex. Exudes harmony and promises enjoyment for many years. abv 11%. Score 98

Harsányi - Tokaj

Kútpatka single vineyard 2017, furmint

Ripe apricots, a smooth elegant dry wine with a touch of freshness. abv 11.5%. Score 95

Aszú 6 puttonyos 2016, furmint

Excellent balance, a long and complex wine. abv 9.2%, Score 97.

Cabernet Franc Blind Tasting, at Phil dans ta Cave

Bunch of Cab Franc, © Wikipedia

Ten members of the Club met today at Phil dans ta Cave for an exclusive blind tasting of Cabernet Franc wines. A good way to end the week on this Friday evening, 26th May.

After an aperitif of Burgundy white, while waiting for everyone to arrive, we tasted three sets of three cab francs each, for a total of nine bottles.

Each set was prepared in carafes by Jonathan Smets, who was the only one to know the content. Each set was composed of two Loire Cab francs and one each from Italy, Hungary and Argentina, but we did not know which until the end of the tasting.

All of the above was accompanied by bread and tasty snacks. Wines were scored using the A.I.S. system.

Below is a summary by Marco Carnovale of some of the comments in the room, followed by his scores and (in brackets) the average score from the group.

Thank you to Phil and Jonathan of Phil dans ta Cave for hosting us. See the page "Friendly suppliers" in this blog to contact them and benefit for special discounts and receive invitations to tastings and sales as a member of the Brussels Wine Club. Contact us to join for free.

Here is a useful template from Winefolly to introduce Cab Franc.

APERITIF TO WARM UP...

1987 Guffens Clos des Petits Croux (magnum). 100% Chardonnay from Burgundy.

An amazing wine which never ceases to surprise. Excellent consistency, but incredible freshness at 30 years-old. Complex aromas of ripe apricots, caramel, whisky. Perfectly balanced and very long. A harmonious wine, probably at its peak, but one would probably have said the same thing ten years ago. Score 95 (95). Price: 75 Eur (if you can find it).

FIRST SET

2015 Magipiro Az agricola Siciliano. Light ruby, moderate consistency, maybe a bit of nail polish. Barely balanced, some residual sugar. Score 78 (74). Ranking today: 9/9. Price: Eur 29.

2014 Y Amirault Saint Nicolas des Bourgueil Les Malgagnes. Green pepper, moderate balance, hard sensations prevail but not aggressive. Body and acidity promise a good evolution. Score 88 (85). Ranking today 2/9. Price: Eur 25.

2010 Philippe Alliet Chinon Vieilles Vignes A bit less freshness than previous wine, but otherwise similar. Typical Cab franc. Score 88 (83), Ranking today 3/9. Price: 18.

SECOND SET

2011 Philippe Alliet, Coteau de Noire Deep ruby intense and complex. Explosive raspberry and plum, perfect balance of full body and prominent freshness. Ready but will deliver for several more years. A harmonious wine. Score 94 (90). Ranking today 1/9. Price 28 Eur.

2013 Don Balthazar (Argentina),  The previous wine was a hard act to follow. This is a good cab franc with moderate potential. Good value for the money if your budget is limited. Score 86 (82). Ranking today 5/9. Price Eur 11.

2010 Baudry Chinon Les grezeaux, we step down a bit again from previous wine. Bitterish cherry. Moderate balance and length.  Score 84 (82). Ranking today 6/9. Price 18 Eur.

THIRD SET

2012 Malatinszky "Noblesse Cabernet Franc" (Hungary). Exuberant alcohol overpowers a pleasant sour cherry jam. Moderate balance, body and length. Score 78 (82). Ranking 4/9. Price: Eur 24.

2010 Clos Rougeard Saumur Champigny  A relatively plump wine, but lacks acidity. Mature. The most expensive wine of the evening, it did not really perform as one would have expected. Score 84 (81). Rank today 7/9. Eur 100+.

2012 Baudry Croix Boissée. Well known to most participants the 1st wine by Baudry was a bit of a disappointment, did not shine as expected. I found it aggressive, only moderately balanced while in the past I have several times ranked it as one of the best cab franc in Loire. Maybe it just needs time. Maybe I was just tired at the end of the evening!! Score 78 (80). Ranking today 8/9. Eur 28.

BONUS WINE (Thanks Jon!) 2008 Joguet, Clos de la Dioterie. Quite distinctive cab franc, ready now with its peak probably a few years ahead of us. Score 86. About 20 Eur.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Cab franc is a difficult varietal but can give great pleasure by itself, and not necessarily in blends with its son cab sauvignon, merlot or others. Few regions of the world try to make 100% cab franc, too bad. Even Cheval Blanc blends a bit of merlot.

2. It is not necessary to spend a fortune to get a good cab franc, in the 20-30 eur range there are great products.

3. Loire is still top, but Hungary and Argentina have interesting offers. We'll try Slovenia and others soon. Italy disappointed this time.

4. This varietal needs time, no point trying to hurry up. Give it ten years, more for a 85+ wine.

You can buy all of this wines with our members' discount of 10% at Phil dan ta cave, see page on friendly wine suppliers on this blog.

Notes from Hungarian wine tasting in London

Talks by organized by WINES OF HUNGARY with various experts. These are my notes from two talks, any error is my responsibility only.

Wine industry in Hungary was mainly built to supply the USSR, quality did not matter, only quantity and alcohol content.

Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign produced a shift toward more quality and less quantity. This made it possible to develop exports to other, more competitive, markets.

At the same time there was a move from collective farming to private vineyards.

Four main wine regions: Danube, Balaton, North Transdanube and Upper Hungary. 22 specific regions. About 60-70k hectares devoted to vines. Continental climate.

Tokaj 5500 Ha, 13,000 growers. Mostly volcanic soil, contributes mineral backbone to wine.

Grand Tokaj biggest firm, still state owned. Was put up for sale but on condition that it preserved jobs and social commitments, no one bought it.

6 main varieties: Furmint is the main, mentioned in 1611.

First mention Aszu in 1571.

First mention of wine classification in 1720, first in the WORLD!

UNESCO WHS 2002

Producers:

Csenyi: was a communist cooperative, still has strong stigma of communist era. Massive scale, quantity over quality, used to "fulfill the plan".

Gere: Attila origin of the name, sprang from XIX century nationalism, larger than life character. It was never a communist coop, always independent producer. Diametrically opposite approach. Aims at max concentration.

San Andrea: Traditional producer, intellectual, looks for quality.

Kovacs Nimrod: Producer migrated to US in 1970s, came back to Hungary after 1989. Opposite to San Andrea, uses modern methods and criteria.

see more on www.carolinegilby.wordpress.com