Sforzando 2009 Gewürztraminer Alisios (Santa Barbara County) – Bland, characterless, massively insipid. (11/10)
Browse Tag
gewürztraminer
Spring forward
Spring Vale 2004 Gewürztraminer (Tasmania) – More like a blend of gewürztraminer and riesling due to the petroleum and sharp acidity, though lychee and rose petal aromas are firmly in evidence as well. Not very appealing as a cocktail, but it really blossoms with food, proving a versatile and malleable companion. (3/05)
That’s a nasty Leucothea you’ve got there; need a lozenge?
Wilson “Leucothea” Gewürztraminer (Polish Hill River) – A fortified gewürztraminer, which I’ve not encountered before (or since). Oh, those wacky Aussies. Intense and bearing the aromatic and textural signatures of botrytis, though I don’t know if that’s an accurate assessment or not. Lychee-infused pear syrup, extremely dense and massively succulent. No hotter than many late-harvested gewürztraminers of my acquaintance, despite the dosing, with a persistent finish. (3/05)
Miner girls
Trimbach 2001 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Dying. I’ve heard fond words about a recently-consumed early-eighties version, but this is on its last amputated leg. (10/10)
Bollen alley
Albrecht 1998 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg (Alsace) – Drying, strappy, and tannic. All things a gewurztraminer can be when it ages, and whether they’re positive or negative depends on the rest. Which, here, is a kinky mélange of spiced banana skin, fuzzy peach, and copper bullets racing down a wind tunnel. Texturally inimitable, in a way, for true skin-contact whites are way more palpable than this, while most everything else would rely more on acid (or its lack) for structure. I kinda love it, but it’s a complicated love. (9/10)
Cattin around
Joseph Cattin 2008 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Salted and dried pork softened with a sweetening peach glaze. Decent, quite drinkable, but doesn’t achieve the intensity or expression it could use. This floats atop a sea of sameness, but it’s still anchored in that sea. (8/10)
Steve & Eydie
Faller “Domaine Weinbach” 2000 Gewurztraminer “Cuvée Laurence” (Alsace) – Fat lychee and flower garden. Very lush. This could use a lot more acidity, in my opinion, though this feeling is not shared by others tasting the wine. It’s good, but this house can (and usually does) do better with this grape. (3/10)
Rolly polly
Rolly Gassmann 1998 Gewurztraminer Stegreben de Rorschwihr “Vendanges Tardives” (Alsace) – Not all that sweet, actually. Leaves, dark skins, and structural acidity dominate. Perhaps a bit of weediness? A pleasant kind, if so. Juicy and rather beautiful, though I think it needs drinking. (3/10)
Wade Boxler
Boxler 2005 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Rich, ripe, but not heavy, leaning more strongly on peaches than lychees, with layers of crystalline spice underneath. Just structured enough, though it’s on the thick side of the norm for this wine. (NB: This is the Chadderdon bottling, carrying no label code…though I don’t think there’s a differentiator for the gewurztraminer even on the French side of things.) (3/10)
Murlé bad
Frick 2005 Gewurztraminer Rot-Murlé (Alsace) – An intriguing combination of the deadening weight of an overripe gewurztraminer and the weedy, fetid swamp aroma of an underripe one. That’s an accomplishment. (3/10)