May’s grape gab is an introduction into the Hungarian grape, Furmint, and overview of the styles of wine that can be produced from it. Steph drinks a cocktail with dried grasshoppers. Val admits to being a gypsy with an attitude. We’re back to our commute-sized format with ‘Factoids’, ‘Wino Radar’, and ‘Shoutouts’ to the max. Pour, click, and sip along!
Steph: “Welcome Wine-Two-Five listeners! This is episode 56 and we are just off the heels of our Anniversary Soiree and recording with our 1st #W25Challenge winner..”
Val: “Yes, Steph, it’s been pretty exciting here lately at the Wine Two Five show… and the fun never stops. Not really. Oh and by-the-way, Feliz Cinco de Mayo!”
Steph: “That’s right – this episode airs on May 5th – and since we like drinking-history specifically – many Americans assume Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of Mexico’s Independence from Spain, but that’s September 16th. Cinco de Mayo is actually the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla – when the Mexicans were victorious over the French. It was an unexpected outcome and truly a reason to celebrate with tequila.”
Val: “Sounds like a reason to go back to Tomayo Modern Mexican Kitchen in Denver! That place had a huge selection of Mezcal & Tequila. That place was fabulous! Remember the drink you ordered that had ground grasshoppers on the salted rim? It was called El Chapo.
Drinking:
Val: “I have here the topic of our conversation today, a Furmint, which is a white grape. Evolucio Furmint from Tokaj-Hegyalija (Hegyalija means foothills). This is the 2012, and it’s 100% Furmint, has decent acidity, tree fruits like apple, pear & some citrus as well. This is about a $10-12 bottle.”
Steph: I’m drinking a 2014 Gran Passione Falanghina Beneventano from Campania, Italy. Falanghina is a white grape that makes fresh, light, elegant white wine. I ordered this last night at Chimney Park because I was having crab cakes and green beans and my hubby ordered the crispy branzino with a lemon butter sauce. So if you’re looking for a new summer white wine, seek out Falanghina! To learn more about Falanghina, check out the link in the show notes to Eric Asimov’s article in the NY Times.”
Discussion: 
Val: “Today we are talking about the grape – Furmint. First, it’s actually pronounced FOORmint. It’s a white grape and is the parent grape of Hárslevelű, another of the six grapes authorized in Tokaji (pronounced tokEYE). Normally we associate this grape with sweet wines, because it is often left to succumb to botrytis on the vines. Botrytis can set in when climate allows morning fogs from nearby rivers (in this case the Tisza & Bodrog rivers). Similar to what we talked about last week with dried grapes concentrating the sugars, botrytis does the same thing – it desiccates the berries but does add other complexities to the finished wine in terms of marzipan, honey, orange peel, etc.
“Although it is grown in other countries, this grape is often associated with Hungarian wine. It originated and is mostly grown in the Tokaj (confusingly pronounced toKOY) region with some plantings in the western Hungarian Somlo’ region. It is grown also in Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia. It’s even grown a little bit in South Africa’s Swartland.”
Steph: “In the Glass- it really depends on the winemaking style, such as oak treatment vs unoaked, and dry versus sweet style – but also the age of the wine comes into play as well – is it fresh and youthful, versus bottle aged, matured and developed. These factors come into play with most wines.”
Dry Furmint
- Pale, light, sometimes even a silver-green tinge – they vary in color
- Aromas of green apple, pear, – sometimes citrus notes or even tropical fruit
- Vibrant, racy acidity on the palate
Sweet Furmint / Tokaji
- Golden color, ripe apricots and stewed peaches on the nose
- Rich and intense on the palate – ripe fruits, honey, spice – but with a balanced acidity
Factoid:
Val: “This episode is packed full of factoids…did you know that the sweet Tokaji Aszu is so treasured by the Hungarians that it’s mentioned in their national anthem? Apparently they talk about the “... grape fields of Tokaj, you dripped sweet nectar.” (Note: this is in the third stanza.) And that makes me wonder if we should work booze into our national anthem – like maybe “Bourbon”? Especially, due to our current state of affairs with respect to election year antics.”
Winoradar:
Steph: “Women of the Vine Alliance is having a regional event in Temecula later this month on May 25th. It is a free event for members of the Alliance and will be held at the Europa Village Winery. There are only 50 spots total – and as of right now – only 18 left!
“Plus there’s a workshop in NYC for member of the Alliance on June 15th. It is a communication skills workshop with journalist Lee Woodruff. Looks amazing!!! Links will be in the show notes.”
Val: “The James Beard Awards were last night. This was the 30th anniversary of the JBF. So think of it as the “Oscars of the Food World.” Some people get together to watch movie awards and all that, but this is a red carpet event that honors chefs, beverage professionals, writers, the whole gamut. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, particularly the Beverage Book Award which I have my nose in every single day of my life right now. That award went, well-deserved, to The Oxford Companion to Wine (or the OCW) by Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding.”
Shoutouts:
Steph: “Thanks for all the love, We Like Drinking boys! We appreciate your support and the tweets.”
Val: “We really need to thank all the listeners and guests who came out to our first podcastiversary party on Saturday night. There was so much love in that room I couldn’t believe it. We also have to seriously give a shout out to Albarello for sponsoring the event! Steph, you did such a great job of setting up the venue, the invites, and all of that. I was seriously amazed at how many people came to celebrate!”
#W25Challenge:
From Lynn: A french cider that spends two years in oak. Still fresh, a nice apéritif- #W25Challenge
From Susan: At Spring 44 trying the Paloma Coupe and Garden Gimlet cocktails #W25Challenge!
Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and on the Vino With Val FB page, and on instagram as Vino with Val.
You can find Steph on Twitter @Albarellosoap and on the AlbarelloSoap FB page, and check out the videos on the Albarello YouTube channel!
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One more thing… Don’t forget to use the #W25Challenge when you are trying new wines and drinks & thank you to those who have been posting like crazy this week.
So until next week – Cheers!