Celebrate Furmint February with these food and wine pairings from Hungary

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Landlocked and bordered by seven other European nations, Hungary may be best known for its whopping bowls of goulash, impressive thermal baths and, er, paprika, but this sprawling country has been keeping a little secret: wine.

If you’re a frequent peruser of wine lists or store shelves, you may have caught a whisper of Hungarian wine before. Perhaps you’ve sipped its most famous drop – Tokaji, a cracking dessert wine – alongside a pud in a restaurant. Maybe you’ve seen growing numbers of bottles at your local bottle shop. But it’s more likely that this incredible winemaking country has completely passed you by – but not any more. Some of Hungary’s best wines are finally making their way to British shores. And we’re all the better for it.

The charming hillside cellars of Hercegkút

Winemaking in Hungary dates back to the 5th Century during the expansion of the Roman empire, but really took off under the Austro-Hungarian empire. It has continued growing since then, and is now home to over 62,000ha of cultivated vines (approximately half the size of the planted area in Bordeaux), and 22 wine regions. Of these, two are best known: Tokaj and Somló. Both are doing incredible things with the crown jewel in Hungary’s grape varietal crown: furmint.

Perhaps one of the most versatile white wine grapes around, furmint shares parentage with riesling and chardonnay. The flavour profiles can run the gamut from luscious and honeyed – best seen in the well known botrytis-style Tokaji – to zippy and mineral, in line with some of the world’s best chardonnays. It can, much like classic chardonnays, produce exemplary sparkling wines. It can create still white wines with depth and nuance. In short, furmint is something of a white wine chameleon.

Of the 3,605ha of planted furmint grapes in Hungary, 3,424ha are in Tokaj. Less than three hours from Budapest, Tokaj sits on former volcanic land, which lends the region exceptionally unique terroir, with mineral-rich soils and sweeping inclines which are patchworked with vines. While undeniably known for producing some of the world’s best dessert wines, a new wave of winemakers in Tokaj are turning their hand to dry wines, too, taking advantage of the abundance of furmint they find themselves with.

To the south west of Tokaj, meanwhile, lies the Balaton zone, home to six wine regions which sit on the shores of Central Europe’s largest freshwater lake. Somló, on the lake’s north side, is often nicknamed ‘the place God forgot his hat’, thanks to its unique landscape marked by towering post-volcanic, cone-like peaks and basalt columns. The soil here tends to imbue furmint with bold flavour and a powerful flintiness, perfect for rounded, gastronomic still white wines.

The verdant vineyards of Tokaj

All of this means there's pretty much a furmint to pair with whatever you're cooking – from zingy, bright ceviches to robust, rich dishes and, of course, those sweeter plates, too. To help you figure out which furmint is right for you, we've picked some of our favourite bottles and cooked up a feast to pair them with. 

Interested? This month, Wines of Hungary are celebrating Furmint February, encouraging adventurous wine drinkers to expand their palates to Hungary. Whether you simply seek out a bottle to drink at home, or want to make your way down to the Furmint February tasting on February 26 at Westminster Capital City College, this is the month to take your taste palate east.