ACHOO! Gewürztraminer! I mean gesundheit?! Shhh…I’m smelling the wine, close your eyes…smell it? What do you smell in your Gewürztraminer wine? Do you smell roses, jasmine, honeysuckle, your Grandma’s lotion…more herbaceous than fruity bouquet? Exactly! It is known for its aromatic and perfumed notes. Like most wines, it has multiple personalities and it can range from dry to extremely sweet. You will find tastes that vary from spice, cinnamon, grapefruit, to apricot. Any wine source will explain that it’s one of the few wines that pair fantastically with Asian dishes. You can also try it with duck or salmon.
Gewürztraminer -‘ga-VERTZ-trah-MEE-ner’-difficult name that translates as “spice/perfumed Traminer”. It grows well in cooler climates, and is grown in places from France to New Zealand. And as in most families, there was plenty of hanky-panky and naughtiness, which resulted in either Traminer or Savagnin Blanc mutating into pink-skinned berries, called Red Traminer or Savagnin Rose. So we have pink berries that make white wine.
Celts, Gauls, Romans, Franks, Charlemagne, Vikings, French, Germans, Nazis, and the French again have all invaded, occupied, and controlled the historical home of Gewürztraminer wine area, Alsace (between France and Germany). With all this territorial fighting, one can and should expect it to be a fussy grape, and it is. This variety is known for its petulant demands because it is susceptible to frost, needs dry summers, and ripens when it’s damn ready.
