Gewurztraminer is a bolshy kind of wine. I’m not sure it matters hugely where it’s grown, it’s always going to be very obvious what you’re drinking. But there are one or two differences about the Gewurztraminer from Alsace.
Firstly, very boring this one, but sod it I’m saying it. You all know what an umlaut is? See the difference between Gewurztraminer and Gewürztraminer? I hugely apologise for this but it is a genuine difference. They drop the umlaut in Alsace so it sounds different when you say it. Ok, we’ve done that bit now, let’s move on to some more interesting stuff…
The sun in the valleys of the Vosges Mountains can really beat down in the summer. Remember that the hotter the area the more tropical the fruit flavours you get in the wine. So in Alsace the fruit flavour in the wine will be fairly tropical.
The lack of rain because of the mountains means you get a long growing season. So loads of sugars develop giving lots of alcohol. 14%ish for a white wine is fairly punchy, so just make sure you have it with food.
It’s going to be low in acidity, so it’s not going to make your mouth water. It’s going to be fairly full bodied, and it’s also going to be slightly oily in the texture. So when I said earlier about make sure you have food with it, you’ve really got to pick the right food.
But that’s a blog for tomorrow.
Cheers
Other posts in NWTW Week 7:
#NWTW Week 7: Gewurztraminer from Alsace (includes voting poll)
