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Northwest
Gewurztraminer
by Jim LaMar
Gewürztraminer is one of the most pungent wine
varietals, easy for even the beginning taster to recognize by its heady,
aromatic scent. While the French have achieved the greatest success
with this grape and its name may be German, the history of Gewürztraminer
began in Italy's Tyrollean Alps, near the village of Termeno (Tramin)
in Alto Adige.
Since the Middle Ages, the parent variety traminer
has grown there. Traminer also is grown widely throughout Eastern Europe,
but neither abundantly nor very successfully. With hardly any of the
characteristic of its spicy offspring, traminer berries are pale green
and make much less interesting or appealing wine, hardly scented at
all.
Like pinot noir, however, traminer vines do have
a propensity to mutate. One of these mutations, a few centuries ago,
resulted in a vine that produces dark pinkish-brown, spotted berries
and makes very distinctive and heady wine.
The French began
calling this prized clone traminer musqué, traminer parfumé, or traminer aromatique; the Germans roter
traminer; and the Italians traminer rosé, traminer rosso, or termener
aromatico. In the late 19th century, the Alsatians began calling this
vine gewürztraminer, although it wasn't until 1973 that this name was
officially sanctioned. Wine texts often report that "gewürz" translates
from German as "spicy", but considering the list of various
synonyms, the more likely contextual meaning is "perfumed".
Alsace has achieved
the most success with Gewürztraminer.
Even here some producers give it less priority than other varietals
and make accordingly dull wines. Those houses that pay specific attention
to and take particular pride in their Gewürztraminer include Léon Beyer,
Schlumberger, and Zind-Humbrecht.
While the gewürztraminer vine is prized for its
wine, it can be despised for its viticultural difficulty. It buds early
in the Spring, so it is particularly susceptible to damage from frost.
Gewürztraminer also has weak defenses against viral vine infections.
Even healthy vines are not very productive, with small clusters, so
there is a great temptation for growers to over-crop, which results
in dilute, lightweight wine.
The berries,
with their thick and tough skins, can attain high sugar levels of
amazing concentration. Alcohol levels,
therefore, can get quite high in dry versions. Conversely, low acidity
and high pH in Gewürztraminer are problematic. Close monitoring and
precise harvest timing are critical. Early picking retains acid, but
without long "hang time" distinctive varietal character fails
to develop. Pleasant results are nearly impossible in warm climates.
At the Colmar
viticultural station in Alsace and at Geisenheim in Germany work
is underway developing clones that
bud and ripen later, produce larger fruit clusters, with more consistent
and greater production levels and that are virus-free. The challenge
is to gain these improvements in economy while retaining gewürztraminer's
unique character and intensity.
The dark pink
color of gewürztraminer grapes
results in wines colored from light to dark golden yellow with a copper
tone, depending upon the fruit ripeness. Gewürztraminer is quite full-bodied,
more so than most any other white wine type. In fact, the combination
of its strong, heady, perfumey scent, exotic lychee-nut flavor and
heavy-oily texture can be overwhelming and tiring to many palates.
There is a slight tendency to bitterness that seems exacerbated by
ripeness, so a light touch is needed at the wine press. Many makers
finish their Gewürztraminer with a mask of residual sugar. Gewürztraminer
can be made into an excellent dessert wine, in fact.
The most frequently
encountered (but not exclusive) smell and/or flavor elements found
in Gewürztraminer-based wines include:
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Gewürztraminer
Smell and/or Flavor Elements
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Varietal Aromas/Flavors:
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Processing Bouquets/Flavors:
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Floral: rose petal, gardenia, honeysuckle
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Petroleum: terpene, diesel
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Fruity: lychee, linalool, peach, mango
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Wood: oak (not usually)
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Aggressive: spice, perfume
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Late Harvest: Botrytis, honey, sweet
cabbage
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Jim
LaMar is editor of Professional Friends of Wine, instructs
Introductory Sensory Evaluation of Wine at California State University,
Fresno, and has been drinking, thinking, teaching and writing about
wine for 30 years. He is a member of Professional Friends of Wine.
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