Furmint

This morning, we're off to the northeast corner of Hungary, near the border with Slovakia to see what we think of the white grape, Furmint. You've never heard of Furmint? You've probably also never heard of some of the towns where we can find it.

We had a flight choice this morning and opted for Debrecen International Airport over the comparable choice in Kosice, Slovakia. For the uninformed, Debrecen is considered convenient because it sits near equally obscure places in Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. But, it's only about an hour ride to the northeast to the little area of Tokaj where we will taste wine thie afternoon and evening.

In the afternoon, we will taste the dry version of Furmint and after dinner, we will move on to the more famous, sweeter versions.

Before being presented with the wine, we are given a few ripe Furmint grapes. They are so naturally acidic that we can almost taste it before the grape crosses our lips. It comes apparently from the natural acidity of the Furmint grape and the terroir of the eastern valleys of both Hungary and Slovakia.

That's not my idea of a grape to snack on in the afternoon, but it does hold high promise for the wine. The wine is somewhat golden in the glass and also quite acidic, perhaps even more so than Picpoul. We sit down to a feast of raw oysters served with wasabi, beluga caviar, smoked salmon, and pretzels, yes pretzels, shipped in from Germany.

We find it interesting how much the flavor profile of the wine changes with each food that we pair with it. But, generally speaking, expect notes of lime zest, oranges, and pears.

Already satiated with both food and wine, we head to our next meal where we skip the dinner and go right for dessert. But, first, a bit about the wine.

In the small county known as Tokaj, the Furmint grapes are not harvested until usually late October when botrytis (noble rot) has already set in. As we discussed in our narrative on Semillon, botrytized grapes produce low-yielding, yet intense, sweet wines. In fact, the Tokaj wines are measured or graded in puttanyos, representing the level of sweetness where six puttanyos is considered the most royal of all.

As our samplings of Tokaj arrive, we are also served a three-course dessert of foie gras pate, blue cheese, and marzipan. Frankly, it's difficult to decide with goes best with the viscous, nutty flavors of our wines seemingly infused with ripe apricots, baking spices, sugar, honey, and black tea. This is a treat for the ages rarely found in the US.

Gorged and 20 pounds heavier than we started the day, our car takes us north to the airport in Kosice for a trip to tomorrow's destination.