Szepsy Dry Furmint / 2023 / 750mL

The Szepsy Dry Furmint 2023 is a taut, mineral-driven white from Tokaj in Hungary, made in a bone-dry style that shows just how serious Furmint can be away from its sweet-wine reputation. Expect citrus and orchard fruit carried on a firm spine of acidity rather than any sense of weight or richness.

Aromatically it leads with grapefruit zest, quince and green pear, with a smoky, flinty edge behind the fruit and a suggestion of beeswax and dried herbs as it opens in the glass. There is a faint saline lift that keeps pulling you back.

The palate is dry and tightly wound, with lemon pith and white peach stretched over chalky, almost stony texture. Acidity does the structural work here, driving a long finish that turns savoury and slightly bitter in the best way, like citrus rind. It is a white with grip, better served cool rather than cold so the texture can show.

Good with roast chicken, pork schnitzel, smoked trout or a plate of hard sheep's cheese. The acid also handles paprika-spiced dishes and anything with sour cream or cured pork, which is no accident given where it comes from.

Drinking well from 2025 through to around 2032, with the structure to reward a few years in the cellar.