GEWURTZTRAMINER

Gewürztraminer’s nickname should be Sui Generis.

No other white wine grape, when made into a wine, can boast that it has perfume and flavor as fierce as Gewurztraminer’s—of tea rose petals and orange blossoms, litchi fruit, citrus and bergamot peel, and juicy, ripe tropical fruits.

Born in Italy, best in France
By the year 1000, Gewürztraminer is noted as grown in the vineyards around the town of Tramin, in Alto Adige, northern Italy—hence, the grape of Tramin, the Traminer. The “gewürz”—German for “spicy”—was added later, around 1870, in Alsace. (Instead of “gewürz,” the Italians use “aromatico,” as in Traminer Aromatico.)

The greatest Gewürztraminer, most would agree, comes from Alsace. It’s helpful to note how the Alsatians are gifted at distilling a fruit such as the raspberry into an extraordinarily heady eau de vie, clearer than water but more perfumed than Giorgio. They do the same thing, in a wine, with the grape Gewürztraminer.

Even so, Gewürztraminer is planted on fewer than 20% of the vineyard land of Alsace. Even for Alsatians, it is a shy bearer and remains difficult to sell (the name is a mouthful, too: it’s guh-VOORTZ-trah-mee-nair in the Old World, or geh-VEHRTZ-trah-mee-ner, in the New).

Elsewhere
Other countries grow Gewürztraminer, of course, sometimes successfully. In northern Italy, where it was born, Gewürztraminer is less rich in both texture and flavor than in Alsace, but often with greater acidity.

Gewürztraminer does well in Germany’s Rheinpfalz; in the U.S., particularly in cooler climates such as Monterey and Mendocino counties; in Austria, where (like Alsace) it makes both steely dry and lusciously sweet wines; and, quite happily, in New Zealand, which has made noticeable strides in the past few years with Gewürztraminer.

Styles
Most winemakers agree that, with Gewürztraminer (as with many wine grapes the world over), there is a clear correlation between vine yield and wine quality. Gewürztraminer is a vigorous vine and can dilute its juiciness and perfume with high grape yields.

The problem is that growers get paid a lot more for Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay than for Gewürztraminer—so the impetus is to let the vine go to town. But more money for a grower means less for a winemaker to work with.

Overcropped Gewürztraminer turns out thin and with deadened perfume (a double pity and a complete turnaround from what the grape should be). Let go, though, it can be just a bit too-too for any wine drinker—oily, blowsy, boorish.

A bit of residual sugar—often the norm for New World Gewürz—can help soften the wine’s sometimes-edgy, sometimes-dusty finish. And, though prohibited in Alsace, some winemakers boost the grape’s low acidity by simply adding some.

In good (that is, ripe) years, Alsace produces some of the most concentrated, powerful Gewürztraminer ever, in two styles: Sélection de Grains Nobles (from very ripe and sweet, sometimes botrytised, grapes) or Vendage Tardive (“late harvest”).

Tastes & eats
When well-balanced, with sufficient acidity, and from low yields, Gewürztraminer struts its stuff—ripe fruit, heady perfume, juicy palate. When sweet, it can be like sipping a delicious, almost meditative liqueur.

Typical Alsatian fare is an obvious match for Gewürztraminer—all those terrifically fatty terrines, pâtés and other rendition of goose liver—or onion “pizza,” smoked trout or salmon, and roast fowl.

It is the classic match for another of Alsace’s powerhouse foods, Munster cheese (served there with caraway or cumin seeds, which is understandably a bit much for non-Alsatians).

When just bottled or in its first couple years, Gewürztraminer works well with sweet-salty dishes in the Chinese, Indian or Asian repertoire—anything with ginger, lemongrass, cilantro, coconut, coriander or cumin.

Because the food and the wine are both “spicy”? Perhaps, but more to the point, because they both are on-all-fours in-your-face.