Beverage Dynamics

Beverage Dynamics Jan-Feb 2015

Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.

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Retail EDUCATION www.beveragedynamics.com January/February 2015 • Beverage Dynamics 9 BY HARRIET LEMBECK, CWE, CSS FURMINT IS THE GRAPE THAT MAKES THE FAMED TOKAJI ASZU. While delicious, it is also rare and expensive, and not as widely known to con- sumers as it should be. When Samuel Tinon, a sweet-wine maker in Bordeaux, decided to move to the Tokaji region of Hungary, he was ready to make wine from its Aszu ('dried up' or 'dried out') grapes — grapes attacked by the desirable botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. These grapes are so concentrated that they have to soak in vats of young wine to dis- solve their fl avors. But when Tinon moved to Tokaji, botrytis was decreasing in his newly chosen region. Expecting to make Aszu wines at least three times in a decade, the number of op- portunities dropped to a little more than two times in a decade, and sometimes less than that. Due to climate change, a great deal of rain meant either no crop at all (as happened in 2010), or harvesting all of the Furmint grapes earlier — not waiting in the hopes of harvesting Aszu grapes — and therefore making dry white wines from earlier-picked grapes instead. Asked about an apparent climate change, Tinon says: "We can't see warm- ing. What we see are erratic vintages with severe or extreme conditions — hot or cold, wet or dry. In the past, Tokaji Aszu was har- vested at the end of October and the begin- ning of November, with botrytis and high sugars. This is still happening, but more often we have to change our production to dry Furmint wines without botrytis with an earlier September harvest, bigger crop, more security, more reliability and with a chance to get your money back." With winters becoming a bit warmer like in 2014, the fruit- fl y population is able to 'over-winter,' and begin reproducing very early in the season, causing the spread of bad rot. This was told to me by Ronn Wie- gand, MW, MS and Publisher of 'Restau- rant Wine,' who is making wine with his father-in-law in Tokaji. Ironically, Comte Alexandre de Lur Saluces, owner of Château de Fargues and former co-owner of the fabled Château d'Yquem, said that although his area is get- ting warmer and drier, he feels that "global warming could be a help for Sauternes, and enable any of those who chaptalize these wines to avoid the practice." He continues, "Many people in Sauternes are produc- ing dry white wines. Their production is increasing, and even Château d'Yquem is producing more dry wine." Hungarian winemakers from Tokaji are increasing dry white wine production as well. A new website, www.FurmintUSA. com, was created by 12 member winer- ies that presented a Furmint tasting in Sonoma, CA in November 2014. The Blue Danube Wine Company, which imports many wines from all over Hungary, has six producers from Tokaji that are producing dry Furmint wines (many from single vine- yards). Martin Scott Wines imports Royal Tokaji's dry Furmint wine, coming from the company co-founded by Hugh Johnson and Ben Howkins, in London. These wines are all delicious, showcasing the minerality of volcanic soil. Considering that in 2014, Hungary abol- ished the categories of Tokaji Aszu 3 and 4 Puttonys (baskets of Aszu grapes), leaving only the sweeter 5 and 6 Puttonys exam- ples, the door has been opened for Dry Szamorodni. This rich, dry white (amber colored) wine from Furmint grapes has a portion of grapes which have some botry- tis co-fermented to dryness, and also uses some fl or yeast, giving the wine some fi no or amontillado Sherry fl avors. This wine is very laborious and time consuming to produce. The 2007 Tinon Dry Szamorodni is the current vintage in the market, released after a minimum of 5 years of aging. This is a unique wine, a keeper, and is important to the history of Tokaji, linking the modern dry wines to the traditional Aszu wines. Both you and your customers should taste these wines to get ahead of the curve. BD HARRIET LEMBECK, CWE*, CSS** hlembeck@mindspring.com is a prominent wine and spirits educator. She is president of the re- nowned Wine & Spirits Program, and revised and updated the textbook Grossman's Guide to Wines, Beers and Spirits. She was the Director of the Wine Department for The New School University for 18 years. (*Certifi ed Wine Educator, **Certifi ed Specialist of Spirits) IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY HEARD ABOUT FURMINT, YOU WILL SOON Aszu ('dried up' or 'dried out') grapes

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