I visited the ‘Daejeon Wine Expo 2024’ held in early November last year to cover Hungarian wines. This exhibition marked the 30th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Daejeon and Budapest, Hungary, and Hungary participated as the guest country. I arrived at lunch and stayed in the Hungarian wine zone for over six hours, meeting with winery representatives who had come to Korea and continuing tastings. What impressed me the most were the dry-style Furmint wines. These dry wines made from Furmint, a grape variety known mainly for Tokaji Aszú, were truly outstanding.
The Wines of Hungary and Nimbility Asia have been running the ‘Hungarian Wine Campaign’ from last fall through to the present in Korea. As part of this, a master class focused on the Furmint variety was held at the Seoul School of Wine in February. Hungarian wine expert Péter Blazsovszky specially visited Korea to lead the class, showcasing a total of nine Furmint wines.
The nine Furmint wines were presented in a variety of styles. The first wine, a sparkling wine, was of excellent quality, showing a bone-dry style. I had encountered a sparkling Furmint wine that was surprisingly good at the Daejeon Wine Expo 2024, and it turns out that Hungary has a long history of being a strong producer of sparkling wines. In fact, Budapest is home to many underground cellars that were once used for aging sparkling wines. Other white wines ranged from off-dry to bone-dry, showing great diversity in style, with all of them having a crisp acidity at the core. In many ways, it could be said that the essence of Furmint lies in its acidity, as the flavor itself tends to be neutral. Finally, the last wines tasted were two Tokaji Aszú wines. These were wines that, of course, could only be delicious. The tasting wines from the Furmint Master Class and the follow-up article published in <WINEIN. Media> can be found below.
The wines tasted at the Furmint Master Class:
- Sauska Tokaj Extra Brut Furmint NV
- St. Donát Márga Furmint 2023
- Tokaj-Hétszőlő Dry Furmint 2022
- Filep Tokaj Hárslevelű 2021
- Sanzon Rány Furmint 2022
- Zsirai Középhegy Furmint 2022
- Barta Öreg Király Furmint 2022
- Disznókő Tokaj Aszú 5 Puttonyos 2013
- Royal Tokaj Tokaj Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2017
WINEIN. Media Article – Furmint, a variety with a thousand faces
