Furmint

Furmint is famous as the key ingredient in the amazing sweet wines of Tokaj, but over recent years it has quietly been building a reputation as a variety to watch: with multiple claims for joining the ranks of great white grapes. Incredibly versatile, it has some similarities to Riesling – able to go from bone dry, crisp and vibrant all the way to intensely sweet, though always with its hallmark steely acidity. At the same time, it has a touch of Chardonnay’s nature about it: capable of fine sparkling wines and able to respond well to oak and malolactic fermentation to give layered, complex, almost Burgundian-style wines. This all makes sense, as genetic analysis shows it’s a half-sibling of both Chardonnay and Riesling.

The variety’s homeland– for ‘it’s so good’). In the past it was treated as a highyielding workhorse here, but now winemakers are identifying parcels of old vines, harvesting at low yields and giving it proper respect in the winery. There’s also a new generation of bottle-fermented sparkling wines in both Hungary and Slovenia – Furmint’s naturally crisp acidity makes great raw material for bubbly.