Tokaji Furmint Duck 2023

Balassa Winery was founded in 2005 by winemaker István Balassa . Small scale is the motto of István, a Hungarian winemaker who, since the beginning of the 21st century, has been producing personal wines with a large share of origin. He believes in singularity: a single grape variety, a single vineyard and an unwavering dedication to producing the best possible wine.

This wine is made from 100% Furmint, the king grape variety of the Tokaji region, from a blend of all the estate's plots. The harvest is manual and precise and fermentation takes place 1/3 in barrels and 2/3 in vats followed by 5 months of aging before bottling. This wine reveals notes of quince , pear , citrus fruits , apple , white flowers , flint , fresh almond and vegetal nuances . The palate is tense, mineral and saline, leaving an impression of purity and finesse.

It was the Romans who planted the first vines at a time when the Country was part of a region called Pannonia. It was at the dawn of the 18th century that Hungary, united with Austria, ensured the export of its most famous wine throughout Europe: Tokaj (from the Fürmint grape variety). As throughout Europe, in the 19th century, viticulture was destroyed by phylloxera. During the communist period, vineyards were managed in cooperatives which guaranteed a stable income for wine producers. Quite a few small winegrowers were unable to keep up with this growing economy, so the Hungarian vineyard was restructured, losing 30% of its surface area in the process. Nowadays, many family estates have emerged, some of which produce wines of incredible quality. As everywhere in Europe, viticulture is in decline as part of the European restructuring plan for the wine industry. Hungary, which is at the same latitude as Burgundy, has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. The rainfall is sufficient for non-irrigated viticulture and the soils are heterogeneous and of high quality depending on the region. With around a hundred indigenous and international grape varieties, the country has good varietal diversity. The fürmint and the hárslevelü from the Tokaj region, vinified dry and at the origin of the great sweet wines of Tokaj, are undoubtedly the best-known varieties today. The most widely planted grape variety is Olasrizling for whites and Kéfrankos for reds. International grape varieties, mainly Bordeaux grape varieties, flourish in particular in the south of the country where they produce high-class wines.