FURMINT USA Continues to Capitalize on Successful US Initiatives to Promote Hungarian Furmint
(Budapest, Hungary – March 1, 2017) – Celebrating one of the most important native Hungarian grape varieties, the Hungarian Government declared 2017 as the year of Furmint, with the aim to raise the attention of international and domestic markets and consumers. Last year, Furmint USA captivated the U.S. market with a campaign to promote Hungarian wines made from the indigenous Furmint grape.
Capitalizing on this success and launching into the 2017 Year of Furmint, an additional shipment from Furmint USA Hungarian wineries arrived in December on the East Coast. This shipment includes new wineries in the Furmint USA project – Somlói Vándor from Somló wine region, and Laposa Winery from Badacsony wine region.
In March 2017 two winemakers, Tamás Kovács (St. Donat winery – Csopak Wine Region) and Tamás Kis (Somlói Vándor winery – Somló wine region) will embark on an East Coast promotional tour to showcase their wines at trade tastings in New York and Washington, D.C., accompanied by László Bálint, AIWS, Director of Operations and educator for Furmint USA. A portfolio tasting hosted by Swirl Wine Brokers will take place at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco later in the month.
In April 2017 the promotional tour continues on to the West Coast, with tastings scheduled in San Francisco and Los Angeles to be hosted by Mr. Dávid Humayer, Marketing Manager at FurmintUSA, and winemakers Sándor Zsurki (Gróf Degenfeld winery) and Dávid Regéczy (Béres winery), both from Tokaj wine region.
Considerable recognition was generated by Furmint USA in 2016 for the unique quality and exceptional character of these dry wines. Nine Hungarian wineries in the Furmint USA portfolio received over 20 awards in the U.S. last year. Two key organizations singled out a duo of Furmint USA producers for being particularly remarkable. The San Francisco International Wine Competition judged Erzsebet Cellar the “Best Premium Hungarian Winery” and “Best of Class” for their Zafir Vineyard Selection Furmint. In addition, Wine & Spirits magazine selected the Béres Winery Lőcse Vineyard Selection Furmint 2011 for their prestigious “100 Best Buys” in their Winter Edition 30th Anniversary Buying Guide.
Last November, attendees at the 2016 SOMMCon and the San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival in San Diego, had the opportunity to taste the wines for the first time. Festival-goers experienced the different styles and tasted the varied flavors of the dry Furmint wines. Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser introduced dry Furmint during a SOMMCon presentation of “Hungarian Furmint: Ancient Grape, Modern Wines.”
Furmint lends itself to a wide range of winemaking styles from light dry wines, lively sparkling wines, and more substantial terroir wines to late harvests, szamorodnis and the famous azύ. Top notch Furmints are now very popular and are rivaling white Burgundies and German Rieslings in vying for the hearts of Americans.
East Coast distribution is through Palinkerie Fine Hungarian Imports, a New York-based company specializing in fine wines from Hungary. West Coast distribution for three wineries in the Furmint USA portfolio, Béres, Grof Degenfeld and Szent Donát, is through San Francisco-based Swirl Wine Brokers.
About FurmintUSA
Founded in 2014, FurmintUSA is an educational campaign to promote dry Furmint wines from the Tokaj region. Furmint USA strongly believes that dry Furmints are Hungary’s flagship dry white wines. More information about Furmint USA and their 2016 USA East Coast Tour is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1sFE2tiP279ypSc3xod5uw and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/furmintusa/ and on their website at furmintusa.com.
