When it comes to finding good wines at a great value, I’ve become a big fan of Chilean wine.  And while I’ve had some nice red wines from Chile, I’ve found many of their white wines to be stellar—particularly Sauvignon Blanc.  But this is the first Gewürztraminer I’ve tasted from Chile.  When I think of Gewürztraminer, I typically think of Alsace, not Chile.  So, I was really curious how this one would perform.  To cut to the chase, it’s an amazing wine for the price.

This wine comes from the Casablanca Valley in Chile, a cool-climate region known for producing awesome white wines—although, they don’t produce a lot of Gewürztraminer.  Within the region there are a number of micro-climates, which produce subtle differences in the wine produced from them.  One of the things I like about the Visión product line from Cono Sur is that they produce the wines from specific blocks in their vineyards, labeled on each bottle, so that you can begin to learn which micro-climates and terroirs appeal to you.  It’s certainly a practice that’s not unheard of, but I rarely see it in wines within this price range.

Mineral and soft gardenia aromas abound on the nose of this wine.  It’s a really pleasant bouquet.  The palate is crisp from near-perfect acidity.   Apple, peach and citrus flavors make it quite tasty.  It’s definitely a drier Gewurz, which is how I prefer it.  The finish is elegant and interesting with perfume notes on the back of your palate.  It’s very nice.

Wine: Cono Sur Visión
Variety: Gewürztraminer
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $14.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

I’ll be honest with you, California isn’t the first region I think of when I’m looking for a Gewürztraminer.  And Forest Glen never comes to mind as a brand I would expect to turn to for Gewürz.  But then Forest Glen has surprised me before, like when their Pinot Noir topped some other Pinot’s more than twice the price in a blind tasting.

This is a brand that’s produced by Bronco Wine Company, best known for making Two Buck Chuck of Trader Joe’s fame.  Seriously, I never expected them to produce a Gewürztraminer.  And to be honest, I was a bit biased against it and therefore tasted this wine blind alongside a few other Gewürztraminers.

Fresh cut flowers are all over the nose of this wine, which is really nice.  But there’s also a slight cabbage aroma, which is not as pleasant.  It’s a touch spicy too, which gives it another plus.  The palate has powerful lychee and a touch of honey.  It could use a touch more acidity, but I wouldn’t call it flabby. The finish has a lingering sweetness, so I would only recommend this one to those who like sweeter wines.

All told, I’m surprised again.  While I wouldn’t call this an exceptional Gewurztraminer, it’s still decent… and a bargain at $8.00.

Wine: Forest Glen Gewürztraminer
Variety: Gewürztraminer
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 11.8%
Rating: 84
Price: $8.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Although its name can be intimidating to those who are new to wine, Gewurztraminer is a wonderful and exciting variety that I recommend you try.  But first, let’s deal with this name.  It looks long and complicated, but it’s not when you break it down.  Let’s start with the first half of the name, Gewürz, pronounced geh-VERTS.  You can actually get by with knowing just that.  Walk into any wine shop and ask for some geh-VERTS and they’ll know what you mean.  The literal translation of  Gewürz is “spice,” but in this case it means “perfumed.”  The second half of the name is traminer, pronounced trah-mee-ner, which is a grape variety.

When you put it all together you get geh-VERTS-trah-mee-ner and it basically means “perfumed traminer.”  In the past, the French have used some other names for this wine which basically translate the same way: Traminer Parfumé, Traminer Musqué and Traminer Aromatique.

You may find yourself wondering now, “why is this called perfumed?”  Well, it is one of the most aromatic wines around with rich floral fragrances.  It is so distinct, that it is often one of the first varieties of wine that drinkers are able to recognize.

While I and many other wine lovers think it’s a wonderful variety, Gewürztraminer is still not prolific on the shelves or in the vineyards.  It’s most prevalent in Alsatian and German wines.  Some of the best I’ve tasted have come from Alsace, where Gewürztraminer is the second most planted variety.  And that’s where this one from Lucien Albrecht hails.

It has the classic floral nose you would expect from a Gewurz, but it’s delicate.  There is also a touch of petrol aroma, which is not uncommon in Alsatian Gewurz.  The palate is really peachy—as in peach flavors, not “peachy-keen.”  There are some melon and lychee flavors too.  It’s off-dry, but not overtly sweet.  And the acidity is good, which helps prevent the sweetness from being too much.  Overall, it’s good.  It’s not quite as intense as I typically expect from Alsace, but it’s still a nice wine — especially for the price (You won’t find a lot of Alsatian Gewurz for less).

Wine: Lucien Albrecht Gewürztraminer Reserve
Variety: Gewürztraminer
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price: $19.99

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

I’ve been wanting to do a Gewurztraminer review here for a while and I’m finally getting around to one today.  And at the same time I’m wading into what might be the most debated wine pairing topic: Asparagus.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time debating which wines go best with asparagus, I’ll just share this experience.  Fellow wine blogger Neil at Brooklynguy’s Food and Wine Blog wrote a post about pairing wine with asparagus just a couple weeks ago, so you can check out his post if you’re interested.  I agree with Neil’s position that the challenge of pairing wine with asparagus is exaggerated.  And I also agree with his choice, Gewurztraminer—although the one he selected is drier than the one I had.

I will note that I didn’t pair this wine with straight asparagus, but rather with a shrimp and asparagus risotto.  The strength of the asparagus flavor is a bit diluted in this dish, which probably makes pairing a wine with it even easier.  I found the original recipe here, but altered it a bit to suit my tastes.  Here’s what I did:

Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients
5 ounces of Arborio rice
4 ounces of asparagus, cut in one-inch pieces
4 ounces of boiled shrimp
4 cups of shrimp stock
½ cup of Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of chopped shallot
1 ½ teaspoons of chopped parsley
1 cup of dry white wine

Instructions

• In a pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat.
• Add shallots and cook until translucent.
• Add asparagus and cook for another minute.
• Add Arborio rice and toast lightly for about 2 minutes.
• Add the wine and stir continuously until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed.
• Gradually add the shrimp stock, about a ¼ cup at a time, stirring constantly.
• When the rice has absorbed all of the stock, add the shrimp and stir gently for 2 minutes.
• Once done, add the parsley and Parmesan cheese.

It had been a while since I’ve made risotto and I’m reminded both of why I don’t make it very often and why I should make it more frequently.  It’s a lot of work, constantly stirring the rice to make this properly, but the end result is scrumptious.

Getting back to the wine, this is an off-dry to slightly sweet Gewurztraminer from the Alsace region in France.  This is a region known for extraordinary white wines with rich mineral characteristics.  While you can find some Gewurztraminer that is dry, more often than not it will be slightly sweet.

The Ruhlmann family, from which Domaine Ruhlmann-Schutz was born, has been producing wine in the Alsace region since 1688.  The vines from which the grapes were harvested are old too, but not THAT old. They are 30 year old vines and as such produce small quantities of fruit, but the fruit that is produced is concentrated in flavor, and that is evident in the taste of this wine.

The nose is very intense and is brimming with rich floral aromas.  Violets, rose, pear, lemon peel and mineral nearly overwhelm the senses.   You can taste some of the floral notes on the palate as well, along with crisp pear, a hint of honey, lychee, lemon and mineral.  I have, in the past, scoffed at wine reviews that mention lychee, because it’s so meaningless to most people… not everyone has tasted lychee.  But it’s there, I can’t deny it.  And it’s the best way to describe the flavor that I found in this wine.

In addition to the exceptional nose and palate, there is outstanding length on the finish.  All the way around this is a great wine.  In fact, it scored a 90 with me.  And although some wines from Alsace can get pricey, this one is very reasonable at $15.  An awesome deal.

Wine: Ruhlmann – Vieilles Vignes
Variety: Gewurztraminer
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 90
Price: $15.00

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