The Aromatic Grape With The Funny Name
I’d be willing to bet that most of you have seen a Gewurztraminer wine in
your local wine store, took one look at that name and said, “I’ve never heard
of that wine before and I certainly can’t pronounce that name, so it must not
be for me!” You may have actually been right in your assumption, it may not
be for you. In fact, I bet you could classify Gewurztraminer as a wine style
that people either love or they hate. It certainly evokes a definite response
either way from those trying it for the first time. Like me for example! I
didn’t know what to make of it.
First of all, you can smell it from a mile away and believe me, it smells like
no other wine you will ever try. In fact, it is one of four white wines that are
considered to be the “aromatic” varieties. Muscat, Viognier, Riesling and
Gewurztraminer. The smell is extremely pleasant though, not at all bad, but
I should caution you, it can be very misleading! Gewurztraminer gives off a
perfume of floral accents and colorful spices. Your brain translates these
aromas and sends a message to your taste buds to expect something sweet
that is about to hit your tongue. When you take that first sip and the cool
refreshing liquid lands in your anticipating mouth, that is when the surprise
hits you, this wine is bone dry! Not at all what you were expecting.
That is not to say there are not some sweet versions of Gewürztraminer
wines, but in general, they are exactly that, bone dry. That’s certainly the
style in which they are made in the wine region that made Gewurztraminer
famous, Alsace. The name Gewurztraminer implies that this is a German
wine grape. If you said that, you would be half right. It is found all over
Germany and indeed one of their more popular wine grapes, with Riesling
being the supreme wine varietal of Germany and Gewurztraminer being a
distant second or third. Alsace however, is a wine region in France. Ah so it’
s French wine grape you say, well again, not entirely. You see the people of
Alsace were once under German rule and to this day, German is the
language that is still spoken in Alsace, France. So that has to mean that
Gewurztraminer is a wine grape that is half German and half French, right?
Wrong!
Are you ready to kill me yet? Okay, I’ll get to the point here. This grape’s
origins are traced back to Italy of all places. It comes from the North East
region of Italy called Alto Adige, near the village of Termeno at the base of
the Tyrollean Alps. Here in Italy, it became known as the “Traminer” grape
and it produced for the most part, boring wines with very little aroma or
appeal. The berries that these Traminer vines produced were pale green,
but like some other types of grapes, most notably Pinot Noir, Traminer
mutated into a dark pinkish-brown grape with spots. This mutated version of
Traminer made it’s way up to the Alsace region in France, where it has
become one of the most popular wine styles produced in that region. Since
this wine style was so wildly aromatic and spicy, the Alsatians began
referring to the grape as Gewurztraminer. “Gewurz” is the German word for
“Spice” or “Perfumed”. In 1973, this name was officially sanctioned and
now this wine style is know throughout the world as “Gewurztraminer”.
Gewurztraminer is made in many other parts of the world. Places like
Germany, New Zealand, Southern France, California, Oregon, Washington,
a little in Australia and of course Italy, but the folks in Alsace, France claim
to make the best Gewurztraminer wines. I’d have to say, that until I taste a
better one myself, I’d have to agree with them. The conditions or “Terroir”
as the French say, in Alsace is ideal for this cool weather ripening wine
grape. When the temperature is hot, it tends to over ripen and become a
little bitter tasting. Gewurztraminer wines produced in warm weather
regions tend to be a bit more tropical in style and are often a touch sweet.
Many California versions are like this. The exception to that would be the
ones made in Mendocino County, California, which I am told produce
Gewurztraminer wines that can rival even those made it the Alsace region of
France.
Many winemakers avoid this grape like the plague because it can be a real
pain in the rear to grow. It tends to bud early making it highly susceptible to
frost damage. The grape itself has very weak defenses against viral vine
infections and on top of that, even when the vines are healthy, they don’t
produce many grape clusters. Greedy winemakers are tempted to over crop
because of this so they can make the most wine possible from these grapes.
The result in this practice produces wines that are very diluted and
uninteresting.
Because the grapes have thick and tough skins, they can obtain very high
levels of sugar, which in turn leads to high levels of alcohol when fermented.
This also causes acidity levels to be low. It is virtuously impossible to make
it right in warm regions and even in ideal climates, you will not be able to
make very much of it. So in short, you really have to be dedicated and love
this wine style in order to make it.
Even though the grape skins are dark pink, they produce a wine that has a
light to dark golden yellow color with a copper tone. Another by-product of
their thick skins may be the fact that they produce full-bodied wines that are
very thick on the palate with an oily texture. The floral aromas produced
arise in the form of rose petals, gardenia, honeysuckle, geranium, acacia,
verbena and violets. Spice flavors such as vanilla, gingerbread, clove,
cinnamon, and allspice will also very often be present in Gewurztraminer
wines. On the fruity side, you will notice lychee, peaches, apricots, mangos
and even bananas. When the vintage is cooler, the wines lean toward the
floral side and when the vintage is warmer, they tend to take on more
tropical flavors.
All of these intense aromas, strong flavors and the relatively high alcohol
that is so often present in Gewurztraminer wines can make it tricky to pair
with food. You should not let that intimidate you though, because it is an
ideal match with all Asian cuisines and even some hot Mexican and Spanish
dishes. Cuisines that are all normally problematic with other wine styles.
Because Gewurztraminer has an enormous depth of flavors, it is quite often
made into a late-harvest (dessert) wine. This is easy to do for the
winemakers because Gewurztraminer is very susceptible to the noble-rot
(botrytis cinerea), which is of course needed in order to make wines of this
style. I have not had a late-harvest Gewurztraminer wine yet, but I can only
imagine how fantastic all of those flavors would taste with an added honeyed
layer on top of them.
As I mentioned upfront, Gewurztraminer is not for everyone. You are either
going to love it or hate it. I doubt you’ll find yourself indifferent on the taste
of it. Before you pass judgment on this wine style, try one from the Alsace
region. Don’t set your opinion on this wine style after an inferior one made
somewhere else, try the best. Trimbach makes a very good one at an
affordable price. Try it with Thai food or some Asian cuisine. You will be
pleasantly surprised at how much it adds to your dining experience. And for
goodness sakes, above all, don’t let the fact that you cannot pronounce or
spell Gewurztraminer keep you from trying or buying one, you may become
permanently hooked!
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