Vins de Hongrie : furmint volcanique et rouges épicés
36 bouteilles, du furmint sec de Mád à l'aszú de TokajA dry white that keeps the tension of a Chablis and the texture of a Loire Chenin, for under twenty euros: the Furmint of the volcanic hillsides of the north-east is worth the detour even before the first drop of sweet wine. Rhyolite tuff, old vines and the mists of the Bodrog give it that saline edge.
The selection follows two threads. The whites first, from dry Furmint from Mád to floral Hárslevelű, through to the Aszú wines for the end of the meal. Then the reds, Kékfrankos and Kadarka blended into Bikavér, spicy, fresh, cut out for the table.
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Où pousse la vigne hongroise
The country sits in a basin closed off by the Carpathians, with a markedly continental climate and long dry autumns. Each landform stamps its own style: volcanic rock in the north-east and by the lake, loess in the south, limestone on the Croatian border.
| Région | Sol et climat | Cépage roi | Le style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokaj, in the north-eastBalassa, Holdvölgy, Zoltan Demeter, Royal Tokaji | Tuf rhyolitique et argile rouge, brouillards de la Bodrog | Furmint, hárslevelű | Blanc sec tranchant et salin, aszú liquoreux de garde |
| Szekszárd, au sud de BudapestSebestyen | Loess profond, collines abritées, été chaud | Kékfrankos, kadarka | Rouge d'assemblage, fruit rouge, paprika doux, tanin souple |
| Balaton, rive nordMoric Project Villa Tolnay | Buttes de basalte face au plus grand lac d'Europe | Olaszrizling, riesling | Blanc vif et fumé, salinité marquée par la roche noire |
| Badacsony et Somló | Cônes volcaniques isolés, exposition plein sud | Juhfark, szürkebarát | Blanc de haute densité, fumé, qui gagne cinq à dix ans de cave |
| Villány, à la frontière croate | Limestone and marl, the hottest summers in the country | Cabernet franc, kékfrankos | Rouge mûr et charnu, élevage en barrique, allure bordelaise |
| Eger, at the foot of the Bükk mountains | Tuf volcanique et sols bruns, altitude et nuits fraîches | Kékfrankos, kadarka | L'Egri Bikavér, assemblage poivré et digeste, dit sang de taureau |
| Kunság, la grande plaine | Sables profonds entre Danube et Tisza, plat et sec | Kadarka, olaszrizling | Rouge léger et blanc de soif, le vin quotidien du pays |
On a Hungarian label, the suffix -i marks provenance: Villányi means “from Villány”, Egri “from Eger”, Tokaji “from Tokaj”. Then comes the name of the cru, Szent Tamás or Betsek for example, then that of the grape variety. The north-eastern selection has its own page, Tokaji, which details the puttonyos scale.
Cinq noms imprononçables, cinq goûts familiers
The names put you off, the flavours reassure you: every Hungarian grape variety has its cousin in a vineyard you already know. Here is the translation, from white to red, with what each gives in the glass and at the table.
| Cépage | Le repère connu | In the glass | À table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furmint | Chenin from the Loire, for its double life dry and sweet | Coing, poire, agrume, silex, finale saline et tendue | Truite au beurre blanc, volaille pochée, chèvre frais |
| Hárslevelű, la feuille de tilleul | Un viognier tenu par l'acidité | Tilleul, camomille, mirabelle, texture ample et parfumée | Poisson en sauce crémée, poulet au citron, cuisine thaïe |
| Juhfark, la queue de brebis | Un chablis poussé sur roche volcanique | Fumé, cendré, densité serrée, acidité de haute tension | Fromage de brebis affiné, ris de veau, champignons rôtis |
| Olaszrizling | Le welschriesling d'Europe centrale, cousin éloigné du riesling | Pomme verte, amande grillée, trame minérale, final amer noble | Friture de lac, charcuterie fumée, salade tiède |
| Szürkebarát, le moine gris | Le pinot gris d'Alsace, version tendue | Poire mûre, pêche, fleurs d'acacia, bouche large et fraîche | Porc rôti, courges, plats aigres-doux |
| Kékfrankos | Austrian Blaufränkisch, word for word | Griotte, poivre noir, acidité vive, tanin fin | Grilled lamb, goulash, duck with cherries |
| Kadarka | Le pinot noir de la plaine, en plus épicé | Framboise, paprika doux, robe claire, corps léger | Charcuterie, poivrons farcis, service autour de quinze degrés |
Kékfrankos crosses the border under the name Blaufränkisch: the same grape variety, a cooler climate, on the Austria page. Furmint picked over-ripe joins the Sweet wines and Dessert wines pages, which sort these bottles by sugar level.
A bottle for every mood
Eight ways into this vineyard, from your first dry Furmint to the bottle for the end of the meal.
Découvrir le furmint sec
Cinq parcelles volcaniques de Mád assemblées, fermentation indigène, élevage court. La porte d'entrée la plus fidèle au style du pays.
Balassa Tokaji Furmint Duck 2023 · 17,91 € la bouteille, à l'unitéMonter d'un cran sur un cru
The Betsek slope, rhyolite tuff and clay, barrel fermentation and eight months on the lees. Dense, linear, saline, with ten years' ageing potential.
Balassa Tokaji Furmint Betsek 2023 · 32,40 € la bouteille, à l'unitéLe rouge du soir à petit prix
A Bikavér from Szekszárd, Kékfrankos and Kadarka with a Bordeaux touch: crunchy fruit, sweet spice, supple tannin. Serve it lightly chilled.
Sebestyen Mozaik Bikavér 2019 · 18,60 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6A single-plot red for a roast
La cuvée de lieu-dit du même domaine, plus profonde et plus épicée, bâtie sur le kékfrankos. Elle tient tête à un agneau ou à un goulasch.
Sebestyen Görögszo Bikavér 2019 · 33,80 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Goûter le basalte du Balaton
Riesling and Furmint in equal parts on the volcanic hillocks by the lake, made with an Austrian grower. A smoky, straight, very saline white.
Moric Project Villa Tolnay Hidden Treasures n°3 2020 · 25,50 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Découvrir le hárslevelű
One hundred per cent Hárslevelű from the Betsek cru, vines over forty years old, barrel ageing. Jasmine, Williams pear, grapefruit and spice.
Holdvölgy Expression 2019 · 38 € la bouteille, par lot de 3A sweet wine for foie gras
Botrytised berries sorted one by one, macerated in a Furmint must. Candied apricot, honey and an acidity that revives the palate.
Château de Sárospatak Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos 2010 · 59,90 € la bouteille, à l'unitéGo to the north-east selection
Szamorodni, forditás, Aszú from three to six puttonyos: the dedicated page explains the sugar scale and gathers the bottles of Tokaj.
Page du rayon · Tokaji
Pourquoi le volcan fait la différence
The rhyolite tuff of the Mád basin is a light, porous rock, born of eruptions several million years old. It holds water deep down and releases it slowly, so that the vine gets through the continental summer while keeping its acidity. It is that acidity which gives Furmint its double life: lively enough to make a cutting dry white, solid enough to carry the two hundred grams of sugar in an Aszú.
The meeting of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers adds the rest. The morning mists settle noble rot in autumn, the sunny afternoons dry the berries, and the fruit concentrates berry by berry on the vine.
Comment on choisit
We taste every cuvée before listing it, and we look for two things in this selection: the clarity of the fruit and the length of the saline finish. Among the reds, we keep those that hold on to fruit and spice at 15 °C serving temperature, rather than those that bank on oak. The rest follows the terroir, from dry Furmint to six puttonyos.
L'équipe du Baroudeur du Vin
What you ask us about Hungarian wines
Le vin hongrois se résume-t-il au tokaji liquoreux ?
Dry wine now takes up most of the vineyard, including in Tokaj itself, where Furmint has been giving taut, saline whites since the nineties. Add to that the reds of Szekszárd, Villány and Eger, and the volcanic whites of Lake Balaton. Sweet wine remains the historic summit, and it keeps its own page, Tokaji.
Que veut dire le suffixe -i sur une étiquette ?
Il marque la provenance, comme le « de » français : Villányi signifie « de Villány », Egri « d'Eger », Tokaji « de Tokaj », Szekszárdi « de Szekszárd ». L'étiquette enchaîne ensuite le nom du cru, par exemple Szent Tamás ou Király, puis celui du cépage. Trois mots suffisent alors à situer la bouteille.
Qu'est-ce que l'Egri Bikavér, le sang de taureau ?
C'est un rouge d'assemblage, né à Eger et repris à Szekszárd, bâti autour du kékfrankos auquel s'ajoutent kadarka et cépages bordelais. Son nom vient d'une légende de siège ottoman. Le style d'aujourd'hui reste moyennement corsé, poivré et digeste, à servir autour de seize degrés sur un plat mijoté.
Is Kékfrankos the same grape variety as Blaufränkisch?
Yes, word for word: kék means blue, frankos refers to Frankish. It is the most widely planted red in central Europe, from Hungary to the Austrian Burgenland. In Hungary, the warmer climate gives it more ripe fruit and spice; the Austrian version stays more slender, on the Austria page.
Quelle différence entre szamorodni, forditás et aszú ?
All three come from grapes touched by noble rot. Szamorodni presses the whole bunch, just as it comes, and gives a sweet or a dry wine depending on the year. Aszú adds berries sorted one by one to a base must, in rising puttonyos. Forditás goes back over the Aszú pomace. The levels are set out on the Sweet wines page.
Pourquoi ces vins partent-ils souvent par lot ou par caisse ?
The Hungarian estates we follow ship their cuvées by full cases, and we keep that packaging to hold the price. The price shown on each listing is that of the bottle, and the sales format sits right beside it. Several cuvées are still available as single bottles, notably from Balassa and Château de Sárospatak.
Which dishes go with a dry Furmint?
Its acidity calls for richness and salt: trout with beurre blanc, smoked salmon, poached poultry, fresh goat's cheese, oysters. The barrel-aged cuvées, broader in style, stand up to fish in sauce or to sweetbreads. Serve them at 10–12 °C, in a fairly wide glass.
Combien de temps se garde un blanc de Tokaj ?
A dry single-vineyard Furmint holds ten years and more: acidity and dry extract carry it, and it then gains notes of beeswax and candied fruit. The Aszú wines cross the decades, and some vintages from the two thousands remain astonishingly fresh. Keep the bottles lying down, at around 12 °C.
Quel vin hongrois offrir ?
For a lover of dry whites, a single-plot cru from Mád makes a strong impression, with a hillside name on the label and long ageing potential. For the end of a meal, an Aszú in a fifty-centilitre bottle plays the same role as a Sauternes, only more saline. The Dessert wines page brings together the alternatives.