theCompass
 Home   Map   Blog Roll   WineCompass   Wine 101   My Compass 

Gewürztraminer, St. David's Bench Vineyard V.Q.A.

Gewürztraminer, St. David's Bench Vineyard V.Q.A. Wine Details
Price: $19.95 per bottle

Description: Château des Charmes Gewürztraminer, St. David's Bench Vineyard has a light gold colour with an exotic bouquet of tropical fruits and lychee spice. Smooth and rich with a distinctive and complex finish. This wine is very rare and is produced only in exceptional vintages.

Varietal Definition
Gewürztraminer:
Cultivated for over a thousand years, this white-wine grape (sometimes referred to simply as Traminer) is thought to have originated in the village of Tramin (or Temeno) in Italy’s Alto Adige region. Gewürztraminer grapes are planted in Alsace, a French region between Germany and France that specializes in excellent dry Gerwürztraminer wines. They’re also cultivated in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, and Ukraine. Because they perform better in cooler climates, Gewürztraminer grapes have not done well in many of California’s warmer growing regions. However, they thrive in cooler California areas such as Carneros, Anderson Valley, and Monterey County, as well as in parts of Oregon and Washington. The German word ‘gewürz’ means ‘spiced,’ and these wines are known for their crisp, spicy attributes. They’re highly fragrant, with flavor characteristics of litchis, roses, and spices such as cloves and nutmeg. Gewürztraminer wines are available in varying degrees of sweetness -- dry, medium-sweet, and late harvest. Because of the grape’s pinkish (sometimes yellow) pigment, Gewürztraminer wines are some of the more deeply colored of the whites, many have gold or peach tones. The distinctive color and aroma of these wines make them easily recognizable by those familiar with this varietal wine.
Traminer:
Parent grape of the popular Gewurztraminer clone. Still grown in France and in California but almost everywhere has been replaced by its much more intense and spicy offspring clone.


Reviews




Back to Chateau des Charmes information