German Gewürztraminer: Good, But A Contrast From Wine Across the Border

Look, I’m not saying a wine that smells like a box of Indian spices and teas and a bunch of lychees (more on those later) is for everyone, but damn skippy it’s for me. 

I’m talking about Gewurztraminer (Gah-VURTZ-trah-mean-ah, with an umlaut over the u if from Germany, none if from France), one of the most underestimated white wines on the market. Translated to “spiced traminer ” (traminer is a grape variety) when it’s made well this wine is a knockout. Full of aroma and oily in texture, it certainly has an opinion– no neutral, shrinking violet here.  

Gewurz, as it’s affectionately called, almost always tastes and smells like a bunch of Indian stuff – think Chai tea, corriander, and sandalwood. It also has the smell/taste of lychee, with which it shares some chemical smell compounds. If you don’t know what this fruit is – it resembles a brain in a jar, is just as slimy, and goes great in a martini. I used to drink lychee martinis like they were going out of style and while eating the lychee say, aloud, “Brains!” like in a mad scientist movie. They’re pretty widely available, so seek a lychee out so you know what it’s like – it’s part of building your wine vocab!

(As an aside, recently I was shopping in a wine shop I know and someone asked the guy working there, with whom I was speaking, about Gewurz v. Riesling. I couldn’t help myself and I chimed in on the differences. I mentioned lychee. After the customer left, the guy told me that he thought describing the wine as “lychee” was over the customer’s head. I found this slightly irritating – this is part of learning more about wine. It’s not about dumbing down things and having you miss something, it’s about introducing you to new things to expand your experiences and wine vocabulary! Sorry for the sound off, but Urgh).

Gewurztraminer is at its pinnacle when grown in Alsace, France. There it has crazy spice, fairly high alcohol levels, and a silky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. It’s a decadent wine and one that can overwhelm you with aroma and flavor. If you’re not a fan of rich, full whites keep away from these babies. But if you’re open to a delicious, exotic flavor experience get to a store and pick up a tall, skinny bottle, chill it down and drink up.

Most of the Gewurztraminer you see on the market is either from Alsace, or in the US, from Northern California, New York, Oregon, and Washington State, with a small amount from Germany. I’ve already discussed the perfection that is Alsace Gewurztraminer (I’m kind of shocked at myself that I haven’t yet reviewed the Trimbach Gewurztraminer, from Alsace, one of my favorite whites ever. I’ll get on it). When it’s from the US, it’s made in an off-dry, or slightly sweet style and I find, can sometimes be a little cloying. The German versions tend to be less spicy, a little more like citrus than overt spice, and be off-dry too. Given that it’s colder in Germany than Alsace, the wine also has less overt fruitiness and lower alcohol.

Valckenberg, an amazing German wine importer, recently sent me a case of their top brands that included a Gewürztraminer. The wines are high quality and I feel lucky to be taking this virtual tour of Germany.

Valckenberg’s wine is from the Pfalz region, an area that has a lot in common with Alsace – it’s warmer than most German regions, has similar soils, and grows a good amount of Gewurztraminer. That said, this wine was not like an Alsace wine. It had a profile all its own…

The Wine: Valckenberg
The Grape: 100% Gewürztraminer

Where it's from: Pfalz, Germany
Alcohol: 10%
Vintage: 2010
Price: $9.99

Color: The wine looked like a pair of khaki pants – kind of golden and ecru in color. It had a little bit of spritz to it, which is typical of German wines and was super reflective and glycerin-shiny.

Smell: Unlike Gewürz from Alsace which I find to be spicy and exotic, this wine had much more discernable fruit and was a little lighter in aroma. Peach, ginger, jasmine tea, and lychee (see note above on this…) were there, but it was all very unassuming. The 2010 vintage was a little rough in the Pfalz, hence why the wine was a little wussier than usual, however as a rule the wines are lighter in constitution.

Taste: The wine is slightly sweet, or off-dry so be prepared for that. It was peachy with lots of orange or tangerine and tang like a zest of a lemon. It did taste like brains…I mean lychee…too. It had just a touch of bitterness and some stoney, minerality. I know this will sound strange coming from me, who always complains about alcohol levels being too high, but I felt like, at 10%, the alcohol in this wine was a little too low. Gewürztraminer tends to have higher alcohol because it’s high in sugar, and usually that adds a kick to the fruitiness that balances it out. Although this wine was a pleasant wine in its light fruitiness, it was almost more like fruit juice than wine.

Pairing: I’d normally recommend Gewurztraminer with Asian food, but unless the spice in the food is pretty subtle (which to me, indicates not so great Asian) then I’d suggest this as a sipper only. I think it may get lost in the food.

Drink or Sink: Drink. If you put a glass in front of me, I’m not going to turn it down, but I wish it had more going on. That said, it's solid for the price. So, even though I’d take a glass of Gewurztraminer from Alsace, France any day over this one, for $10 I'd sip this on the porch on a fine fall afternoon with no arm twisting.