Gewurtzraminer

I don't know who decided this, but Gewurtzraminer is one of the world's 18 noble grapes. If the group of them, it is likely the least planted and perhaps the least appreciated.

These days, Moscato is all the rage. It's often sweet and fruity, and according to one annoying email that I received recently, the perfect party wine. Well, Gewurtzraminer is the more adult version of Moscato. It has generally higher alcohol content, far more striking aromatics, and lower acidity. You can't guzzle it happily, and perhaps that is why it's not the perfect party wine. But, it is a remarkable food wine.

It's a grape that grows best in cooler regions and its home is on both sides of the Rhein River where Alsace (northeast France) borders the Rheingau (northwest Germany). The growing season is typically somewhat short, but the harvest varies. When drier versions are the goal, harvest may be as early as late August or very early September. But, if sweetness is the goal, the harvest may be extended to produce an off-dry or even flat out sweet wine.

Today, we are tasting Gewrtzraminer blind and we are doing that for a reason. Experienced tasters can tell Gewurtzraminer instantly and they can do it without ever tasting the wine. Take a sample into the lab. When you go, bring yourself some lychee juice as well. Run samples of each through a gas chromatograph. You'll find spikes on the chart or monitor at methianol, geraniol, and nerolidol, all highly aromatic compounds. So, the nose of Gewurtzraminer screams lychee.

The typical wine is quite high in alcohol for an aromatic white with levels often exceedding 15% alcohol by volume (ABV) although most German productions are much lower. It's typically somewhat medium-bodied although as sweetnes increases, so does the body for the most part. The other key to Gewurtzraminer is the low acidity which except in some of the most prodigious versions tends to make it far less ageworthy than Riesling, the better-known aromatic of Alsace and Rheingau.

The aromatics in Gewurtzraminer combined with the natural sweetness cut wonderfully through the spicy foods of southeast Asia, southern China, India, and Morocco. But, the apricot and tangerine, combined with the lychee, and even the ginger notes make it a wonderful pairing with your Thanksgiving turkey. And, particularly for those who enjoy ginger, pair it with high quality sushi and sashimi.



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