Judith Beck Bambule! Furmint 2024

Judith Beck makes Bambule! Furmint in Burgenland, on the eastern side of Austria near Lake Neusiedl. Beck farms biodynamically and works with minimal intervention, and this is a natural wine made with little added. Furmint, better known from Hungary, gives a dry white with firm acidity and a mineral core. The grapes grow on gravel and clay soils in a warm, sunny pocket cooled by the lake, which lengthens ripening and preserves freshness. The wine is fermented and aged in Slavonian oak barrels, large old wood that lends texture and a slow feed of air without adding oak flavour. It pours a bright, slightly hazy yellow, as natural wines often do, and shows green apple, quince, citrus peel and a stony, slightly waxy note. The palate is dry and taut, with a savoury grip and a long, saline finish. This is a white with tension and energy rather than weight. Serve it cool, around 10 degrees, in a standard glass.