Turkey vs Hungary: Kolorko vs Furmint
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these Turkey versus Country X Taste Offs. As you can tell from the title though, this one’s going to be a little different. This isn’t really a taste-off, more of a ‘reveal’.
The Question of Kolorko
Kolorko is a nearly extinct variety that hails from the shores of the Sea of Marmara. Small, disconnected plots of old bush (or goblet as they’re called in Turkey) vines grow scattered around the villages of Hoşköy, Güzelköy, Kirazlı, Iğdebağları, and Şarköy.
It’s a low-yielding and late ripening grape that has thick skins containing high levels of catechins—an antioxidant phenol that requires gentle pressing to avoid bitter flavors. All of which may have contributed to the grape’s decline in popularity over the years.
Successful wines result only when grapes are gently pressed. You can moosh these vigorously and extract every possible last drop of juice. That makes it both a more difficult and something of a less profitable grape to work with. However, when carefully vinified, Kolorko wines reveal firm acidity, a marked minerality, and flavors of red apples, citrus, and herb.
This grape so fell out of favor, in fact, that it wasn’t until pioneering winery Paşaeli released a Kolorko in 2009 that Kolorko made it into wine glasses (in who knows how long).
But is it a native Turkish grape?
Let’s Talk Furmint
Furmint is King in Hungary and has been for many hundreds of years. It’s fame is due largely to the lusciously sweet wines that come from the country’s Tokaj region. Winemaking here has been documented back to the 11th century and its volcanic soils are home to this variety. Furmint buds early and ripens late. Thick-skinned berries high in catechins grow in loose bunches which allows better exposure to the air; necessary as they’re susceptible to powdery mildew and botrytis. The river running through Tokaj provides those early morning fogs so necessary to the growth of botrytis and the creation of the region’s famous sweet wines.
Furmint now grows elsewhere in Hungary, its expression adapting especially well to the regions of Somló and Badacsony. It’s also very popular in Slovenia where it goes by the name Šipon. It’s less widespread in Austria but it grows there as well under the pseudonym Mosler.
It also grows in Turkey—hidden in plain sight—as Kolorko. Wait whaaaat??
The Great Grape Migration
Probably this isn’t news to you. We learned in February 2026 that Turkey’s Kolorko is in fact the same as Hungary’s Furmint. How does that happen, finding out one grape is really another? In this case, as in the case of Çal Karası/Liatiko, it’s because of Paşaeli.
Some years previously, Paşaeli submitted multiple samples to famed grape geneticist José Vouillamoz for testing. Why? Well, why not? While there is a fair amount of grape research being done in Turkey, largely thanks to the Bağcılık Araştırma Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü (coincidentally in Tekirdağ), their research is more concentrated on making sure that all 1,450+ of our grapes are genetically distinct from one another, not discovering if they have relatives outside our modern borders. Thanks to Paşaeli’s curiosity and commitment to Turkey’s native and heritage grapes, we now have a little more insight into this grape.
“This discovery shows how deeply wine is connected to European history,” says Dr Vouillamoz. “Kolorko and Furmint are the same grape variety, yet their wines tell different stories, shaped by climate, culture and time.” – Historic DNA discovery: Turkish Kolorko identified as Hungary’s Furmint Press Release
How did Furmint not only make it to Turkey, but also, how did everyone forget? There aren’t any written records to support the theory, but it most likely was due to the exile of one Hungarian noble. In the 18th century, Prince Francis II Rákóczi tried to lead a revolt against the Habsburgs for Hungarian independence. That went nowhere quickly and resulted in his fleeing the country. Long story short, in 1717 he accepted an invitation from Sultan Ahmed III to settle in the Ottoman Empire, specifically in Rodostó (now Tekirdağ). It’s possible/likely that he brought Furmint grapes with him and planted them there.
But wait…if they’re the same grape, shouldn’t wine professionals have realized that Kolorko and Furmint taste the same?
Same Same but Different
That’s an interesting question. You would think they should. Chardonnay has different personalities, but is recognizable as Chardonnay pretty much regardless of where it lives. Generally, the same can be said for Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, etc. Furmint, it turns out, is much like our own Emir: place-specific. Yes, you can grow them elsewhere, but climate and soil differences have a profound effect on their flavor profile.
Where Kolorko grows around Tekirdağ and Şarköy, the climate is largely Mediterranean, greatly influenced by the Sea of Marmara. Soils are largely calcareous and poor in nutrients. In Tokaj, and elsewhere in Hungary where Furmint grows, the climate is more continental and soils are mostly volcanic.
It’s more than just a question of climate. These grapes have been separated for hundreds of years. They’ve each undergone multiple mutations, some spontaneous, others in response to changing conditions and climate. They might still be genetically the same, but these small differences influence their characters and flavors.
Kolorko grape bunch photo by Paşaeli
In Turkey’s Corner: Paşaeli Kolorko, 2025
There is, sadly, not a lot in the way of Kolorko wines floating around Turkey. Paşaeli is largely the only producer working with it (although I have, in the past, seen some bottles from Melen). Ever-increasing industry difficulties make working with rarer grapes less attractive to a lot of wineries. Limited plantings mean few grapes which also results in a lack of style variety. Plainly, we just have the one, white, dry, still wine.
Paşaeli’s Kolorko ferments in stainless steel and rests for three months on its fine lees. There’s no barrel aging or anything fancy schmancy like aging in clay, skin contact, late harvesting etc. The nose is mineral-driven with orchard tree fruit. Sipping is like biting into a salt-encrusted apple (golden or even red). It’s medium-bodied with moderate alcohol and acidity and bit of oily roundness on the back palate.
I do frequently forget how much I enjoy this. It’s one of those wines that makes people go “Oh” and flinch a little when they first sip it. Because seriously, salty apples. Not what anyone expects. But, even if you’re initially weirded out, it really grows on you as you drink it.
In Hungary’s Corner: Well, a Lot of Wineries
Furmint, on the other hand, grows in multiple regions in Hungary and is used in a variety of styles. Historically, it appeared almost exclusively in sweet wines from Tokaj. Modern Hungarian winemaking includes everything from dry wines, barrel (and other vessel)-aged, sparkling, skin contact, and very much still sweet wines.
Let’s look at some, shall we?
Harsányi Pezsgő Brut, 2022
This is a 100% Furmint, Tokaj, traditional method wine. It spent 24 months on the lees and finished with 7.2 g/L residual sugar making it a brut sparkling wine.
Softly aromatic like mille feuille layered with citrusy curd, a drizzle of honey, and decorated with bergamot blossoms. A creamy mousse that fills the mouth with all those flavors, leaving behind notes of smoke and mineral is it dissipates.
Balassa Betsek, 2024
Also from Tokaj, specifically from the lauded Betsek vineyard, this Furmint from Balassa fermented spontaneously in barrels, followed by aging (in barrel) on fine lees for around eight months. Yes, the grape’s famous acidity was there, but rounded out and creamy. It was smoky but it was also dairy, floral, and fruit.
Furmint graoe bunch By Andrs.kovacs – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21932761
You’re going to have come with me on this one…when I was kid, we would slice peaches into a bowl, sprinkle over a little sugar to get the juices and pectin flowing, then top it with milk. A brief wait later, the pectin has thickened the milk and we had a semi healthy but luscious dessert. This wine reminded me very much, in texture and flavor, of that peach milk. But dry, this is a dry wine.
Apátsági Pincészet, 2021
We’re jumping across the country for this next wine from the Tokaj PDO to Nagy Somló, specifically the Somló PDO. This is one of my favorite wine regions in Hungary and 2021 was an exceptional vintage there.
Grapes for this were harvested slightly late, allowing the Furmint to build up some sugars. So much so, that the final residual sugar rang in at 7.1 g/l. Yikes. So, technically that makes it a sweet wine. But it’s not.
It both fermented and aged in neutral oak, then aged a further year in bottle before release. It is sweet on the nose with apricot syrup shot through with sharp citrus and wrapped in smoke. The palate reveals something else entirely: yes fruit but somehow earthy. Deeper smoke and dried wildflowers and herbs take the main stage. Big, full-bodied with high alcohol and high residual sugar…but so much acidity it that you don’t feel the sweet.
Lenkey Orange 14, 2019
We’re back in Tokaj for this wine from Lenkey. This is, I believe, the first amber Furmint on the market. After the grapes were destemmed, they spent 14 days on the skins, thus the name off the wine. The wine aged in 400 liter neutral barrels for 4.5 years. Let’s digest that. Four and a half years. It was then bottled unfiltered with no added sulfur.
Sweet and smoky aromas rise from the glass, reminiscent of campfire marshmallow, dark honey, and Victoria sponge cake layered over stone fruit and laurel. This wine is bottled sunshine. Citrus candy, stone fruit, and laurel flavors roll across the tongue, chased by searing acidity and, surprisingly, no tannins.
Disznókő Tokají Aszú 6 Puttonyos, 2016
I bought this Disznókő Tokají Aszú years ago when I had a chance to visit the winery. This is a 100% Furmint. The aszú grapes were soaked in actively fermenting must for 60 hours, followed by long pressing and fermentation partly in stainless steel and partly in oak. It aged for two years in 225-liter barrels, 17% new Hungarian oak. The resulting wine had a whopping 177 g/l residual sugar.
Oh my what a wine. Aromas of peaches, dried apricots, citrus peel, honey, and nuts shot through with zingy ginger hit the nose in waves, each swirl of the glass revealing something new. Full-bodied and luscious on the palate but with Furmint’s intense acidity in full evidence, carrying all those gorgeous stone fruits, citrus, honey, and ginger to a nutty-coffee finish.
István Szepsy Jr.,…says: “The identification of Kolorko as Furmint represents a rare and powerful example of how modern genetics can reconnect forgotten chapters of viticultural history, linking Hungary and Turkey through a shared grape heritage spanning more than three centuries.” – Historic DNA discovery: Turkish Kolorko identified as Hungary’s Furmint Press Release
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