Staying in: Hungary’s famous dessert wine

Going through recent tasting notes in preparation for the next edition of my wine guide (out this October in all good bookshops and wine shops!) I was surprised to find I had tried no less than six wines made from the Furmint grape in the last eight weeks. Even allowing for my natural wine critic nerdiness, and a trip to Slovenia, this was more than expected, and evidence that this variety is enjoying a revival of interest.

The Hungarians would claim Furmint as their own, but vines pay no attention to political borders, so you will find it in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia and other neighbouring states. Hungary is certainly the largest producer and can trace its origins back to the 16th century at least, with some claiming it was introduced by King Béla IV in the 13th century. Whatever its ancestry, there is no doubt that Furmint first became famous as a core ingredient of Tokaji, the fabulous dessert wine of Hungary.

However, Furmint offers much more than that to the wine drinker. In Hungary, Slovenia, and more recently Austria (all of whom share the great Pannonian plain) it is the dry white wines that have become distinctly fashionable. They vary in style from pale and crisp to rich and textured, but always have a hallmark mineral acidity that makes them brilliant food wines.

Typically, dry Furmint has brisk clean apple, pear and quince fruits, plenty of acidity with a subtle spiciness. I sometimes find a very appealing exotic note of pineapple and orange peel in richer wines. It can even take a little oak-ageing. Lighter Furmint goes well with simple white fish dishes. As the intensity increases, think about white meats, either pork or chicken. I enjoyed the Ch. Dereszla 2014, below, with chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce. The sweet wines are often paired locally with foie gras but desserts or blue cheese are good alternatives; Cashel Blue and a 5 Putts Tokaji is heavenly.

To make sweet Tokaji, Furmint, along with Hárslevelu and a few minor varieties, is harvested late into the autumn. In good years, grapes will have been infected with noble rot, giving the wine a complex rich intensity. These are Aszú, dessert wines with sugar levels measured in puttonyos – 5 putts is said to be the ideal.

Looking around the shops, Mitchell & Son stocks every kind of Tokaji, dry, sweet and sparkling. O’Briens has a handy 25cl bottle of 5 puttonyos for €19.95. Aldi included a light crisp dry Tokaji for a mere €7.99 in their recent wine festival. Some branches may still have stock. I featured the Verus 2014 recently; the recently arrived 2015 vintage is even better.