Gewurztraminer: a sincere and recognizable grape variety

Dear WineatWine friends, today I want to tell you about a wine I personally love very much.

Do you like wines that are honest, sincere, and instantly recognizable?
Then Gewurztraminer, also known as Traminer aromatico (Gewurz) or Savagnin, is the wine for you.

Unmistakably distinctive for its spicy character of cloves and pepper – almost unusual for a white wine – you will surely be able to identify it, even though it will never come across as predictable or dull.

Grapefruit, pineapple, lychee, muscat, apricot, honey, rose, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, smoky notes...
The wine is white and the grapes from which it is made are delicately pink-skinned; it is vinified as a single variety or blended with other grape varieties, and rarely used as a table grape.

This grape variety is cultivated in Alsace, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, and also in Australia.

In a few words, Gewurztraminer can be described as rich and sumptuous.

In the glass, Gewurztraminer presents itself with good body and viscosity, its color a beautiful, sparkling golden yellow – as bright as stars – which can turn amber in the case of vendage tardive (late harvest wines).

It is brilliant, and its aromas are decidedly exotic, sensual, and alluring.

Bringing the nose close to the glass, one seems to detect a basket full of tropical fruit – passion fruit, pineapple, mango – all clearly and distinctly recognizable, always accompanied by rose petals, broom, wisteria, elderflower, nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon.
Also distinguishable are citrus notes: grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, and lemon, along with hints of caramelized or candied fruit.

Enchanting are the sensations of dried apricot, dates, and raisins, all ready to overwhelm your senses and passionately sweep you away into a sea of pleasure.

On the palate it is long, persistent, with an explosive, complex, and elegant bouquet.
It is a refined and distinguished wine that satisfies through its very nature; but like sincere people, it may or may not be to everyone's taste given its distinctive character.
On the palate it must have the right balance between acidity and softness – otherwise it may come across as thin-bodied, and its alluring aromatic characteristics would be lost, truly leaving a bitter aftertaste.

Those who say that Gewurztraminer is a wine that is difficult to pair with food, and that it should be fresher with less intense aromas, do not have my agreement.

I don't see it that way! For me it is the ideal companion for dishes such as truffle, goat's milk cheeses, crêpes al gorgonzola, smoked salmon, raw scampi, sea bass carpaccio, tuna tartare, speck dell'Alto Adige, ravioli au chevre, guinea fowl with zabaione, paté de foie gras.

Gewurztraminer should be served at a temperature of 10/12°C; if you want to experiment, you can serve it a few degrees cooler if it lacks acidity, or a few degrees warmer if you want to enhance its aromas.