In Hungary, wine lovers know the connection between Furmint wines and February. It is safe to say that the ancient Hungarian wine won over a number of new fans, including Financial Times writer Jancis Robinson.
As we have reported earlier, Hungarians have been celebrating Furmint February for quite some time, but the ancient grape variety only conquered the United Kingdom last year, when the first Furmint February event was organised in London.
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If you are interested in how the movement of Furmint February started, you can read an elaborate article about it here.
This year, Financial Times writer Jancis Robinson attended Furmint February in London, and he focused on dry wines. He not only recommends many Hungarian wines to try, but he shares a lot of what he learnt about furmint. For example, how even though the Tokaj wine region is well-known for its sweet wines (like the beloved aszú), most of the wine producers of Tokaj now assign about half of their grapes to dry wine. Robinson describes dry furmint as:
“Although Furmint has a wonderfully strong character — all fire and brimstone on a dried apricot base — it is not that easy to make a fine dry wine from it. It has particularly thick skins full of chewy phenolics, so care is needed to make dry whites that are not too astringent.”
See the list of recommended dry Furmint wines by Robinson below.
For value
- Kardos 2018, £12 Boutinot
- Patricius 2018, £13.95 Enotria & Coe
- Grand Tokaj 2018, £14.60 Pol Roger
- Barta, Pince Egy Kis 2018, £14.95 Corney & Barrow
- Disnókö 2018, £15 González Byass
- Tokaj-Hétszölö Organic, £16 Les Caves de Pyrène
- Füleky 2014, £17.50 Amathus Drinks
- Tokaj Nobilis, Rány 2018, £17.50 Novel Wines
- Royal Tokaji, Mézes Mály 2017, £20 Bibendum
- Gizella 2018, £21 Wine Rascals
- Zsirai Winery 2016, £21.35 Jascots
- Dobogó 2016, £23 Liberty Wines
- Szarka Pince, Juharos 2018, £24.49 Top Selection
For quality
- Any Szepsy wine, £34.50-£97.48 Top Selection
- Zsirai, Szent Tamás 2018, £30.62 Jascots
- Sauska, Birsalmás 2017, £37.50 Berkmann
Fetured image: Furmint Photo