BALLA GÉZA | Stonewine | Furmint | 2019
furmint

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Tonight we are going to review a single-varietal furmint wine from Minis wine region in the west of Romania – Stonewine Furmint 2019 by ‘Wine Princess’ Balla Géza. Furmint is the same grape variety from which the world’s famous hungarian Tokaji Aszú dessert wines are made of. Furmint grapes succumb very well to noble rot, thus making it an ideal material for producing world’s renowned sweet wines with good natural acidity and huge ageing potential. Lately it has caught the trend to be made into assertive dry wine, very similar in style to Riesling. The late-harvested grapes for this wine are sourced from south-facing slopes (called Öreg-Dűlő, meaning ‘old-vineyard‘ in hungarian) from the Paulis vineyard, in the Minis region, grown on old, rocky and granite soils, facing the famous Mures river. This is in fact the only white wine of the winery, aged for about 8 to 9 months in 500-liters hungarian oak barrels and matured on fine lees. That said and without further ado, let’s move on straight to our tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
color: deep yellow color
clarity: clear pastel-yellow hues

//Olfactory
intensity: rich & noble
fruit profile: sweet fruits | citrus fruits | stone fruits
__sweet fruits: pear | quince | dried pear | dried apple | wild apple
__citrus fruits: lemon | white grapefruit
__stone fruits: apricot | nectarine | dried apricot
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: herbal | sweet | other
__herbal: straw grass | hay | lemongrass
__sweet: beeswax | honeycomb | quince jam | biscuit
__other: petroleum | rubber | limestone | slate | white pepper | penicillin
primary layer: fruit & sweet

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: low
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: round & firm | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: sweet fruits & stone fruits
fruit character: overripe & dried
non fruit: herbal & sweet
finish: long
aftertaste: crisp

//Scoring
BALLA GÉZA | Stonewine | Furmint | 2019
variety: furmint
country: Romania
region: Minis
rating: 92.4

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | drink now or in the next 3-4 years
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Romania and with a total of 92.4 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a very fine wine that is still developing – one that will reach the peak of its form in about 3 or 4 years. It feels crisp, firm and complex, with a well structured palate, a nuanced fruity-citrusy profile and a pleasingly seedy finale. On the palate the wine delivers crisp acidity and well integrated alcoholic level, which makes it taste rich and plush. On the nose the wine starts with sweet and citrus fruits mixed with very nuanced honey-sweet notes in the foreground, followed by a mesmerizing herbaceous layer right before those appealing overripe and dried stone fruit notes in the background, that is enriched by some very noble, honey-botrytis hints. All in all, this is an amazing wine with an excellent structure and a fine balance, which makes it taste round and voluptuous. Enjoy!

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