Heidi Schrock, Burgenland (Austria) Furmint 2018

 Heidi Schrock took over her family’s business in 1983.  The family has been cultivating wine for 300 years near the Austrian town of Rust, pronounced like roost.  While she makes wines from many grape varieties, she is one of the few who make wines from Furmint.  According to Austrian Wine, the industry’s official organization, “Furmint is the main variety in Hungarian Tokaj and although it has been authorized for the production of Quality Wine in Austria since 1987, is rarely cultivated.”  In fact, only a little over one percent of Austria’s vineyards are planted to Furmint.  Heidi Schrock gets the credit for reviving the variety.  It is a dry, rich, concentrated wine with flavors of peaches and apricots with savory and salty notes.  Its richness gives the impression of sweetness up front, but since the residual sugar level is 1.1 gram per liter, it is bone dry.  Serve it with roast chicken or a grilled pork tenderloin.