Was in a Gewurtz kinda mood this afternoon so popped two very similarly priced 2014s - Trimbach and the Zind Humbrecht Turckheim.
Trimbach
-pale straw color - much lighter than the humbrecht. Light citrus, white flowers, and a bit of honey and spice on the nose. Medium- bodied, and with lychee and flowers drizzled in honey. A little sweeter than expected but plenty of acidity to balance it out. Really tasty and super easy to drink, especially compared to the Humbrecht.
Zind Humbrecht
much darker in color than the trimbach, and with a deeper and more spice filled nose. That complexity follows through on the palate with lots of lychee, spice and dark honey tones, but it finishes much more dry than the Trimbach. Overall It comes across as a little more ‘serious’ and to me, gives the impression that it might improve more with age. Definitely came across a little darker toned than I what I remember from my last couple bottles…but that’s probably because i was drinking it next to the Trimbach which was much lighter and not as dry.
Both great wines, but for the mood I’m in tonight…id give the edge to the Zind Humbrecht.
Agreed Steve - would be great to see a little more love for Gewurtz around here!
That being said…if you’re a fan…you’ve gotta seek out the Zind-humbrecht Roche Calcaire. The entry level wines were tasting so good i had to try a taste of this one. REALLY freaking good! Explosion of very pure and clean white flowers, lychee and a hint of ‘soapiness’ (in a good way) on the nose. You can tell this is something special from the first sniff.
In the mouth this is fantastic. Perfectly balanced with bright flavors very similar to the nose and walking the perfect like between bone dry and just a hint of sweetness. Seriously good wine here with a very promising future. I have 1 more but I’ll probably try and snag a couple more.
Excellent Rich. I especially like gewurz when the sweetness is minimal and lychee turned way up. I’ll try the Zind-humbrecht Roche Calcaire as I see a 2014 available nearby. My go to is Alsace from Meyer-Fonne ‘Sporen’ vineyard imported by Kermit Lynch. I always drink them chilled way down with my wine glass coming from the freezer – just my thing.
Nice Steve - love me some strong lychee in a wine as well…along with that glass/freezer tip buddy! I’ll have to give that a try…along with the Meyer-Fonne ‘sporen’ vineyard.
And I definitely think you’ll dig the Roche Calcaire. It was a super premium quality gewurtz and clearly stood head/shoulders above the other 2 (which were no slouches). But fyi, It does have a bit of sweetness on the finish…but a mostly dry wine and a real pleasure to drink (wanted to mention that per your comment on loving them dry)
Trimbach is the only Gewurtz I have found to be enjoyable, most are way too sweet for my liking… I recently purchased a bottle of Ellen Walch which was highly recommended to me, supposedly her Gewurtz is in the same style of my beloved Trimbach
Popped another bottle of the 14 Zind Humbrecht Turckheim today. A little over a year since my last one and this wine is drinking really well. Huge aromatics of spice and honey, with spring flowers and lychee on the palate. Medium+ bodied with just the right amount of acidity to keep this refreshing and a long finish with a touch of sweetness at the very end. Just what the doctor ordered when its 115 degrees outside here in Phoenix.
Did you get this from PC? It was dirt cheap at the time and one that I’m pretty sure was in stock when I ordered it. Anyway, I just had my last bottle a few weeks ago: Fireworks on the nose, just insanely foral and a full on Gewurtz attack on the ol’ sniffer. The palate I thought was very good, but in hind sight, I would have opened it a few yeas ago, still damn good.
Dale,
I’m pretty sure all my Z-H was purchased from Kermit Lynch until they stopped importing it. I bought some 2005’s from Premier Cru. The 2002 is indice 2.
Damn, I am away from my stash of gewurz and you guys are dragging out the great gewurz battle while I drool. More adjectives, more adjectives - kind of like more cowbell.
Glad to see a gewurz post as well. Two quality producers, without a doubt.
If you don’t mind a tad sweeter, twice in recent months I have enjoyed the Barmes-Buecher “Cuvee Maxime”, which some have called “VT” but doesn’t seem it to me. Available for a song at Moore Bros NYC and Flickingers in 500 ml.
