Gewurzt - Your thoughts

I haven’t had any since trying Gundlach way back in my 30s upon moving out to CA.

What are your favorites? What are the trends, if any? Dry vs. off dry?

I ask because there is a bit that a friend wants us to make and I’ve no experience so I’m looking for a foothold. I’ll be scouring all my library this week looking for articles in back issues of PWV and W&VM.

More specific to RR,CA as that is where the fruit is located.

Oh Yeah. Also half the block is Flora. Gewurtz-viogner cross. Thinking of blending in some super structural chard a la Trimbach.

Love them if they have a balance of acidity and you don’t ‘force’ the same level of sweetness every vintage. If you adapt year to year they can be lovely.

There was debate elsewhere that it would have been the perfect match with Cecil the lion…

Too soon?

Good stuff, and works very well with pork sausages/cabbage combinations. However, many are quite high in alcohol (14%+) and can lack definition and become flabby in riper years or if they are harvested too late.

Lion, the other, other white meat.

How do you have sex with a boneless lion?

OK I think I badly misread that. Never mind.

Navarro dry estate bottled. Can’t go wrong. Also Toulouse and Phillips Hill.

Ive been thinking lately that Gewurtz would be a good grape to blend with a high acid white. You would get the incredible aromatics of the Gewurtz balanced with some structure.

You see that with some of the Alsatian Gentil wines, a little Chasselas or Pinot Blanc freshens them up nicely. It can lighten the weight on the palate, which can be either a good or bad thing depending on where you want it to end up.

Thanks! I’ll see if I can find one.

Evan, the most surprised I have been – tasting a Gewurz – and, it occurred just last week, was when I tried Cartograph’s '13 Gewurztraminer at the IPNC. It isn’t bogged down with all of those demonstrative terpines that wreak havoc on my sensory nodes the way that Cilantro does.

Best,

Kenney

I really enjoy a well-balanced Gewurtz. The challenge for me has been finding one that captures the spiciness without being too alcoholic, flabby, and “oily” in texture. I am a big fan of even the simple/cheap ones from Washington, especially with East and South Asian food.

I have only consumed the 2012, but the Dowsett Family Gerwurtz from the Celilo Vineyard in the Columbia Gorge is just fantastic.

+1.

Celilo is a great vineyard for Gewurtz, as well as for “cooler-climate” Chard.

Michael

Count me as a fan. I would not have expected it, but it makes a great blending grape. Adam Lee made a Ten Mile White - first year cost about $10 a bottle, that was Gewurztraminer with viognier and just a touch of chardonnay. Lovely wine. We bought a boatload.

I also like the Zind Humbrecht, but I am getting to the point where I only like the dry or almost dry. The sweet ones have to be perfectly made or else they are out of balance.

Scholium Project makes a very weird one - Riquewhir. Bone dry with some interesting extra flavor in it. Botrytis? I haven’t had one for a few years and I did not write a note, so I am not sure what the extra flavor was.

Have you had the Bedrock Compagni Portis? It’s Gewurtz, Reisling, trousseau Gris, and a couple other things…It may be along the lines of what you seek.

Myself, I am partial to Alsace, although their Gewurtz can be very dense and fruity, ala Trimbach, Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach, etc…But I like it!

Robert,

Yeah, Cartograph gets that from the flats at Floodgate, where we get Pinot. I’ve been eyeing it for a while but just never seemed interested enough. This just fell into our laps so I may go for it as it is from a neighbor. I’d do a dry version.

I remember talking to Mark at Devils Gulch about some old Gewurtz that Dutton made into a late harvest. People apparently went bonkers for it. I just don’t drink sweet so I can’t see making it that way.

I’ll give 'em a try Casey. Thx.

Bedrock is doing a Gewurtz, but will be wishlisted on the upcoming mailer.

Gewurz is one of my loves. I happen to think that the natural bitterness on the finish needs a little sweetness to balance. If you like the more dry end try Alto Adige region. Wach produces a good one. But Alsace is where it really reaches its heights. More produces are following the lead of Olivier Humbrecht and putting on the label some index a sweetness/richness. Look for it. If you like a sweeter style, try Albert Mann.