If it's February, then it's Furmint!

The Furmint grape is a true Hungarian original, especially from the Tokaj wine region. It has been with us for several centuries, and considering the excellent properties of Furmint wine, it's not surprising that it has spread throughout the country. We find it in the Tokaj wine region, as well as in Somló, the Balaton Highlands, or even in Eger. Almost every Hungarian wine region boasts this noble grape, which excels as both a dry and sweet wine, or even when aged into sparkling wine.

The Furmint, a True Hungarian Speciality

The popularity of dry Furmint is no accident. A few years ago, it was elevated to the status of a Hungarian flagship wine. Of course, this doesn't mean that someone dictated Furmint to be the main Hungarian grape and wine (obviously, that's not how it works), but there is a widely supported rise that we are witnessing.

The enthusiasm for Furmint is not accidental. It excels in various educational contexts, showing its different but always exciting sides on different growing areas and wine regions. It's also significant that it consistently ranks among the best both in the domestic and international wine scenes, truly counting as a "real Hungarian" wine.

The grape, of course, doesn't forget to grow and produce beautiful wines beyond the national borders, in Srem, Burgenland, or Slovenia, where we can taste beautiful Furmint wines. There are other ancient Hungarian varieties from which excellent wines are made. But either there isn't enough production to compete abroad (like Juhfark, Kéknyelű), or they're not so typically Hungarian curiosities (like Olaszrizling, Kékfrankos).

The thousand faces of furmint wines

Even if we can't list a thousand different Furmints right now, it's certain that Furmint not only shows its versatility in different wine regions and vineyards with different characteristics. While maintaining the basic characteristics of the variety, Furmint can be made into a light, fresh, crisp, light white wine, typically bottled from a steel tank after reductive processing. However, it truly shows its beautiful face after barrel aging, demonstrating how multi-layered a wine it is.

However, so far we've only talked about dry Furmint, whereas in the Tokaj wine region, excellent late-harvest semi-sweet and sweet wines can be tasted, not to mention the number one wonder of Hungarian winemaking, Tokaji Aszú, which is most often made from Tokaji Furmint.

With the modern rise of Furmint, it has also become clear that it should be considered not only as a still wine but also in traditional sparkling wines. The variety provides an excellent base for blends and 100% Furmint wines, achieving significant international results with careful attention.

If it's February, then Furmint! If it's international fame, then…

Thanks to an initiative launched a few years ago, February means Furmint for Hungarian wine enthusiasts. During 'Furmint February', wine shops, bars, and wineries focused on the variety strive to draw more attention to the greatness of Furmint. They dedicate professional and wine tasting events to Furmint this month, where everyone can see for themselves where Hungarian Furmint is heading.

We hope we're not revealing any secrets, but we'll share our opinion too. Hungarian Furmint is getting better, but there's still plenty of room for development and refinement: for it to become a clean, easily marketable product abroad. Our growing areas are very good, our winemakers are getting better, and Furmint has the potential to make truly great wines. And Hungarian winemaking needs great wines, with the outstanding international results of the past few years showing that the world also needs great Furmints.

What will happen to Furmint next year, or in 10 years?

If the beautiful arc of Hungarian Furmint in winemaking continues, we hope that in 10 years we will barely be able to choose between great, aged Furmints and traditional Furmint sparkling wines showing the freshness of the variety. Despite minor fluctuations, Furmint wines are on the right track, but there's still a huge force and potential in them.

As wine friends, all we can do is attend many wine tastings and provide honest feedback, not free from criticism, to the winemakers. This is how they can develop and embark on Furmint paths that truly lead to elevation.

One thing is certain: at Borindex, we continue to give space to all those wineries that dazzle the wine-loving public with quality Furmints, and you can see this for yourself by browsing our wine tastings. We have Tokaji, Mátrai, and Eger wineries with quite exceptional Furmints, and with a bit of luck, you may discover special Furmints at our winemakers.