By Sonya Logan

First published in the January/February 2013 issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal

It was after tasting some Tokaji from Hungary that Perth Hills wine growers Ron Waterhouse and Christine Smart decided to supplement their existing plantings of Verdelho, Merlot, Semillon, Grenache and Shiraz with some Furmint and Harslevelu – the blending partners in Tokaji – on their 10-acre property at Bindoon.

Importing the necessary cuttings through South Australia, their initial plantings were on a small scale, to say the least, with just seven vines of each variety going in the ground – the Furmint in a bottom paddock that previously producing oranges and the Harslevelu in soil formerly growing proteas.

Waterhouse, a former engineer with his own consulting company, and Smart, a former export clerk with a large food producer, met in Perth in 1989 and purchased their property in the early 1990s with a view to establishing a small vineyard and a winery before retiring gracefully. After planting four acres of vines to supplement the few older vines on the estate, their plans were turned upside down in 1994 when they were involved in a serious car accident in which they were both severely injured. Brain injuries to Waterhouse ended his professional engineering career and it was while recovering from these injuries and searching for “something to give us an advantage” to increase sales for the fledgling winery that led he and his partner to plant Furmint and Harslevelu.

“Right from the start the vines were plagued by mildew,” Waterhouse recalls of the Furmint. Thinning buds and leaves for disease quickly became routine as part of the vines’ management and the plantings that were to follow.

Around the turn of the century, Waterhouse and Smart had enough Furmint and Harslevelu to produce a 15-litre batch of each for tasting and evaluation.

Of the Furmint, Waterhouse said: “Before the wine was even stabilised and settled we had friends who wanted to buy it.”

But, he said that due to the sugar content and size of the batches, it was decided to blend the Furmint with the Harslevelu.

“Until our Furmint and Harslevelu yields reach 1000L of each, they will continue to be blended. Then, a single varietal liquer will be made from each. Furmint is a very sweet, aromatic grape.”

Briery Estate today has around 250 Furmint vines, mostly in decaying granite, which it uses to produce both the Harslevelu Furmint blend, labelled Fermento, and a Tokaji style which, like Tokaji from Hungary, comprises around 70 percent Furmint. Around half its Furmint production is bottled in the Fermento, while the rest goes to make the Tokaji style.

“Both (Furmint and Harslevelu) have worked extremely well for us,” Waterhouse said. “We don’t get much rain. This season is the first we’ve had in a long time which has brought significant rain; it’s hard to keep diseases under control in those conditions,” he said, adding that Furmint was prone to botrytis.

Like all Briery Estate’s vines, its Furmint has learned to live without irrigation, which has proved to be a blessing given the groundwater supplies have seemingly diminished.

“My test well used to be dry to about one metre; now it’s dry at 3m. My neighbour’s domestic windmill water supply, which used to be three to four metres down, is dry at 30m now,” explains Waterhouse.

He says the lack of irrigation also benefits flavour development in the Furmint. “We don’t get the big juicy crops so the flavours are quite intense.”

Waterhouse grows his Furmint on a four-wire vertical trellis where the vines are pruned to four arms – two either side of the trunk – to yield around five kilograms of fruit per plant.

“We could produce far more than that. I would think with irrigation we could achieve 15kg per plant. But, we’re only looking for 5kg.

“Furmint has large leaves – twice the size of your hand. And they’re thick and hairy, particularly on the underside.

“The bunches are large, straggly and often have Hen and Chicken. We tend to let them go past maximum ripeness to achieve more sugar and taste.”

Waterhouse describes his Fermento as an off-dry style.

“I think it’s quite tasty. It tastes like nothing else that I’ve tasted. It’s pleasant like a Sauvignon Blanc but the taste is completely different. It’s quite drinkable after five years and even better after 10 years.”

Most of Briery Estate’s production is sold through its cellar door where Waterhouse says his Fermento has been met with positive customer feedback.

Given the consumer reaction to both the Fermento and the Tokaji style, Waterhouse says he hopes to soon expand his plantings of both Furmint and Harslevelu by around 100 vines of the former and 50-60 of the latter.

Furmint

By Peter Dry, Emeritus Fellow, The Australian Wine Research Institute

Background

Furmint (fir-MINT) is the main variety of the legendary Tokaji Aszú (Tokay) wines of the Tokaj-Helyalja region of eastern Hungary. Tokay was first made in 1650 and is said to be the first wine made from botrytized grapes, possibly two hundred years before Sauternes. It is also used for dry wine.  Globally there were 5259 ha in 2010 (up 51% from 2000), 80% in Hungary, 12% in Slovenia and 5% in Slovakia. Furmint makes up 68% of the planted area of Tokaj. It may have originally come from Austria as long ago as the 13th century where it has been a minor variety ever since—but now undergoing a modest revival. It is more important in Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia (where it is known as Moslavac or Šipon). It is also grown in the Crimea (Ukraine), possibly in Albania and in South Africa. It has been shown by DNA profiling to be a half-sibling of many other varieties including Chardonnay and Riesling. There are over 100 synonyms listed in the Vitis International Variety Catalogue. Furmint was probably introduced to Australia by James Busby in the 1830s and has been found as odd vines in plantings of other varieties in Victoria. In Australia there are currently at least 3 wine producers, in NSW and WA.

Viticulture

Budburst is early to midseason and maturity is mid-season to late. Growth habit is very erect and vigour is moderate to high. Bunches are small to medium, loose to well-filled with medium berries with thin skin. Yield is generally low (said to be due to poor fruitset). It can be spur-pruned.  In Hungary it is said to require warm sites with well-drained soils. There are conflicting reports on its susceptibility to fungal diseases: for example, susceptibility to powdery mildew is low to high. Most reports suggest low tolerance of botrytis, not surprising given that it is used for Tokay wherein the botrytized (aszú) grapes hang on the vine until as late as November, shrivelling and retaining high acid levels.

Wine

For the wines of Tokaj, Furmint is used together with the more aromatic variety Hárslevelű—the best wines are fresh and luscious with medium alcohol (around 12%), good acidity, richness and lingering flavours of quince, dried fruits, marmalade, toffee and honey. When used for dry wines, Furmint can be intense with good acidity: common descriptors include citrus, pear and stone fruits. Dry wines from several countries have attracted favourable comments in recent times. It has been said to combine the pungent aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc, the richness and oak-friendliness of Chardonnay and the minerality and acidity of Riesling.