What does Gewürztraminer wine smell and taste like?
What are its' Essences?
Updated 04/06/2007
"In wine one beholds the heart of another"
As I taste more and more Gewürztraminers, and compare them to the winemaker's or professional wine taster's notes, I feel that winemaker's ought to obtain tasting notes from individuals from different regions within this country and world, that is, if they intend to market their product outside of their own region, they need to know how people living there perceive the wine.. Why? Because people's palate or taste memories/recollections are attuned to the food obtained near their home. When you buy a California Gewürztraminer wine, it comes from a region of tropical-like fruit, oranges, grapefruit, lychees ( from southeast Asia to Hawaii to California - in the Midwest, Ha!). What do we have in Wisconsin - cranberries, cherries, cheese, beer, brandy and fish fries. Sure we have more available, but it's not standard food fare. Winemakers and tasters tell us what a wine is supposed to taste like, but it's based on their own food experiences, and many times it's where they live that determines this, or maybe they have a $500 aroma/taste kit they can reference. The Gewürztraminers of Alsace - how was the taste initially described as? Lychees, I don't think so. They mention spice, but what kind? I've heard that some exhibited a "peppery" taste. Aroma and taste has become that what are the popular/trendy ones (or regional). So leave your tasting expectations behind when tasting Gewürztraminers or any wines. MRR 2/10/05
There are hundreds of different wines made throughout the world. With each type of wine comes a set of varying essences. These can be tastes or smells. There are nine basic categories of essences characteristic to all wines: sweet, bitter, sour, smooth, acetic, flowery, fruity, oak and tannin. These essences, although sometimes barely noticeable in some wines, should be understood, both literally and physically, to better understand and determine the reason you either like or dislike a wine. As you taste each wine, thinking about each of these essences will give you a framework to analyze the wine.
"How does this white wine sound to you? "Prickly, fresh, and flowery, like roses. Serious wine, complex, with lots of layers to it, a lot of taste. Alive , vibrant, clean. Crisp and embracing. Floral, perfumey yet peppery finish. Filled with flowers." Or how about this" "Roses and apricots. Fresh, floral, alive, vibrant, bursting with fruit flavors, yet also plenty of white pepper. Mouth-watering, literally. Still young. So fresh and lovely. Pears and peaches and spice." Source: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine, New and Improved by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, authors of the popular weekly "Tastings" column. Chapter Eight, Gewürztraminer - A Little Pepper with Your Wine?.
From Saveur.com
- "Late-harvest Gewürztraminer—either vendange tardive or the unambiguously sweet sélection
de grains nobles, which is usually affected by “noble rot”, or botrytis—is
opulent, fragrant wine. Almost everybody ranks Gewürztraminers like these among
the finest dessert wines made anywhere; the best examples have more than once
received perfect 100-point scores from the ratings mavens.
It’s the other Gewürztraminers, which account for more than 90
percent of the total produced, that inspire mixed feelings and present
winemakers with real challenges. Jean-Michel Deiss, of Domaine Marcel Deiss,
believes that making a good classic Gewürztraminer is a matter of “giving some
class” to a prolific varietal with a natural tendency to bitterness and, as he
puts it, “violent notes of geranium”. Catherine Faller, who runs Domaine
Weinbach with her mother, Colette, and sister, Laurence, uses a feminine
metaphor: “You have to corset the exuberance of Gewürztraminer,” she says.
The problem is that the aromatic profile of Gewürztraminer derives
from compounds called Terpenes, which are concentrated in the skins of the
grapes. Terpenes underlie the powerful smell of things like turpentine,
citronella, and geranium, and without them, Gewürztraminer would smell a lot
more like other white wine. The high residual sugar in late-harvest
Gewürztraminer masks Terpenes quite effectively, but a decent expression of the
compounds is essential to discovering the “typical” character of the classic versions.
Unfortunately, the distance from character to caricature can be distressingly
short. Gewürztraminer has little flavor of any kind until it is very ripe; at
Domaine Albert Mann, for instance, winemaker Maurice Barthelmé likes to see the
skins “get fragile” before he picks—but at that level of ripeness, it’s
easy for the Terpenes to run away with the wine, especially with grapes grown in
upland vineyards, in low-yielding, rocky, porous soil. When planted in the
vigorous soil of Alsace’s lesser vineyards, the vines can produce a heavy crop
of tasteless berries with barely a hint of varietal character and not enough
terpene to make a geranium blush.
Very slow pressing of whole berries to minimize extraction from the
skins, cold settling before fermentation, and low-temperature fermentations with
resident yeasts all seem to help keep Terpenes in check. But almost without
exception, winemakers rely on residual sugar, too. “You need it to cover the
bitterness,” explains Catherine Faller. Just how much you need is a
matter of debate. The 1998 Albert Mann Steingrubler Grand Cru clocks in at a
swashbuckling 54 grams per liter of residual sugar—more than enough to qualify
it as a late-harvest wine; Zind Humbrecht’s 1997 Clos Windsbuhl is bone dry by
comparison at just four grams per liter, essentially imperceptible in the
presence of the wine’s high acidity.
Winemakers who produce Gewürztraminer in the United States
sometimes argue that Terpenes are not an inevitable by-product of full ripeness
but instead are a function of sunlight on the grape skins. Ted Bennett, of
Navarro Vineyards, who has made gewürztraminer for 26 years in California’s
Anderson Valley, thinks that partial sunlight stimulates the fullest terpene
development. Fritz Meier, winemaker for Husch Vineyards, also in the Anderson
Valley, argues that a winegrower can get all the Terpenes his heart desires
without awaiting superripe fruit, just by judicious leaf pulling (which exposes
the grapes more fully to the sun).
Its intense aromas, strong flavors, relatively high alcohol, and residual sugar combine to make Gewürztraminer a difficult wine to pair with food. Even Alsatian restaurants with strong regional wine lists tend to downplay it; the celebrated three-star Auberge de l’Ill in Illhaeusern, for instance, includes only a dozen Gewürztraminers on its list of more than 500 wines. Even the vintners who produce great examples of the wine seem to accept its inherent limitations. Christian Bas of the topflight Kuentz-Bas contrasts Riesling (“which achieves completeness only when it is married with cuisine”) with Gewürztraminer, which is “quite good by itself”. Maurice Barthelmé calls Gewürztraminer “a winter afternoon fireside wine”. Sommeliers usually suggest the wine with highly seasoned dishes, especially those of Mexican or Asian origin, and some connoisseurs—like Catherine Faller—think it goes brilliantly with venison or wild boar, especially when cooked with fruit. Nearly everyone agrees that Gewürztraminer is great with strong cheeses like Munster and époisses. But is it possible to construct a multi-course meal entirely around it? “Of course,” says Serge Dubs, sommelier at the Auberge de l’Ill, “but only to make a point, the same way you can do with port.”"
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: |
Processing Bouquets/Flavors: |
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Spicy: Describes the presence of spice flavors such as anise, cinnamon, cloves, mint and pepper, often present in complex wines.
Source: 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.
Common Names: Lychee, Litchi, Leechee, Lichee, Lichi
Origin: The lychee is native to low elevations of the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien in Southern China. Cultivation spread over the years through neighboring areas of southeastern Asia and offshore islands. It reached Hawaii in 1873, and Florida in 1883, and was conveyed from Florida to California in 1897.
Fruits: The fruit is covered by a leathery rind or pedicarp which is pink to strawberry-red in color and rough in texture. A greenish-yellow variety is not grown in California at present. Fruit shape is oval, heart-shaped or nearly round, 1 to 1-1/2 inches in length. The edible portion or aril is white, translucent, firm and juicy. The flavor is sweet, fragrant and delicious. Inside the aril is a seed that varies considerably in size. The most desirable varieties contain atrophied seeds which are called "chicken tongue". They are very small, up to 1/2 inch in length. Larger seeds vary between 1/2 to 1 inch in length and are plumper than the chicken tongues. There is also a distinction between the lychee that leaks juice when the skin is broken and the "dry and clean" varieties which are more desirable. Source: © Copyright 1996, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc
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Peaches, plums, cherries and apricots are a few of summer's sweetest treasures. Few culinary pleasures compare with biting into a ripe sweet peach bursting with juice or enjoying a sugary sweet plum at the peak of its season. Most of the luscious fruits of summer are known as stone fruits because of the stone-like pit at the core of the fruit. When fully ripe and at the peak of their season, there's no better way to enjoy stone fruits than simply eating them just as they are - fresh, sweet and full of juice. Source: Whole Food Markets |
From Turkish brands such as Divan
Patisserie and Gulluoglu. Flavors include pistachio, hazelnut, rose, lemon,
mint, orange. History of Turkish delight dates back to 500 years ; making
Turkish Delight one of the oldest sweets in the world. Legend has it that in his
endeavor to cope with all his wives, Sultan summoned all his confectionery
experts and ordered them to produce a unique dessert to add to the collection of
secret recipes for which he was famous. As a result of extensive research "Lokum"
better known as "Turkish Delight" throughout the world was born. The
sultan found it so tasty and stimulating that he and all successive Sultans
always insisted on a plate of Turkish Delight with their daily feasts. The
quality and taste of Turkish Delight became traditional and famous over hundreds
of years and is now available for your enjoyment in its original recipe. These
gummy, sugar brushed cubes can be filled with anything from fruit flavoring to
pistachios, and have been a part of Turkish culture for centuries. Fashionable
ladies gave Turkish Delight to friends in lace handkerchiefs, and Turkish
families always serve lokum on holidays and birthdays. Since it remains fresh
for one year, stored at room temperature, most households keep some on hand.It
is said that Picasso used to eat Turkish Delight on daily basis for
concentration on his work while Winston Churchill and Napoleon's favorite was
pistachio filling. Ingredients (Icindekiler): Sugar, Water, Hazelnut (or other
flavorings), Corn Starch, Citric Acid-E330, Vanilla. (Seker, Su, Findik, Misir
Nisastasi, Vanilin Aromasi.)
Even the list of ingredients, (sugar,
water and starch), seems comically simple, the trick with Lokum is in the
way you put them together. If it is over-cooked it becomes stiff, and becomes a
messy blob if it is undercooked. Learning how to make Lokum doesn't happen
overnight, one specializes in this craft only by watching, tasting and finally
cooking this taste bud temptation. First, the sugar is poured into the water and
then the starch is added. The mixture is stirred with a paddle called maplak
until it comes to a boil. Rotating blades stir the mixture as it cooks.
A good Lokum keeps its freshness at least six months. Never
put Lokum into the refrigerator, but keep it in a cool place. Interestingly,
despite its sweetness, good Lokum won't make you thirsty, even after eating 8-10
pieces. Source: "mymerhaba"
Is it
Sweet? - Sweet is
often confused with fruity when describing a wine. Sweet (opposite of dry) is
the amount of sugar the wine contains. All wine contains sugar in varying
amounts although the amount is quite low in dry wines. The amount of sugar is
not usually indicated on the wine label. The percentage of alcohol is. The
higher the percentage of alcohol, generally the lower the sugar content and the
dryer the wine. Wine labels will sometimes indicate the percentage of residual
sugar in the wine - sugar left in the wine after fermentation. Residual sugar
can be less than .5% (bone dry - the threshold of detection for most people) to
as much as 20% (or even more!) in a late harvest dessert wine.
The integration of sugar with wine’s other constituents is
intriguing. Sugar masks the effect of acidity and tannin in a wine. This is a
key point! Some Californians are following the Kendall-Jackson formula: .5% or
more residual sugar. This makes the wine seem very soft, but it shortens the
life span of the wine, fatigues the palate, and makes it much more difficult to
match the wine to food. Sugar is also sometimes used to disguise (hide) defects
in lesser quality wines (avoid any label that says “Serve very cold”).
That’s why “jug” wines are usually fairly sweet - to hide flaws caused by
using inferior (cheaper) grapes. Sweetness is not undesirable in wine - it
should exist in an amount appropriate for each specific type of wine. Much more
significant to the quality of a wine than sugar content is the balance between
all its components: sugar, acid, fruit, tannin, etc.
Bone Dry = Less than 0.5% residual Sugar remaining in wine
Dry = Less than 1.0% residual Sugar remaining in wine. One that has gone thru complete fermentation, meaning that all or most of the sugar was transformed into alcohol.
Off-Dry = ''A tasting term for a wine that has the barest hint of sweetness.'' Descriptor of wine that is not quite dry but the sweetness of the wine is too weak to describe the wine as sweet.
*Semi-Dry = Between 1.0% and 2.0% residual remaining in wine
Semi-Sweet = Between 2.0% and 3.0% residual sugar remaining in wine
Sweet = More than 3.0% residual sugar remaining in wine. One that has either natural sugar left by stopping fermentation early, or sugar added.
*Sometimes a very fruity wine is confused as semi sweet or not so dry. What makes a wine sweet or dry is the sugar level not the taste.
Some Gewürztraminer Common Terms
Botrytis: Botrytis Bunch Rot is a vine disease caused by fungus that attacks ripe, white wine grapes. The benevolent form is known as “noble rot” which is responsible for the world’s finest sweet wines.
Brix: The measurement of soluble solids in grapes at harvest, taken with a refractometer and expressed in degrees. In unfermented grapes, degrees of Brix are approximately the same as percent of sugar. After fermentation, the alcohol concentration is roughly half the sugar concentration of the juice. Thus, grapes harvested at 22.5 degrees Brix will produce a wine with an alcohol content between 12.5 to 13.5%.
Clone: A sub-group within a variety of genetically identical plants propagated from a single vine to perpetuate selected or special characteristics.
Complexity: The term used when a wine has multiple flavor and aroma characteristics from the vineyard source, winemaking techniques and/or bottle development.
Direct-To-Press: Pressing grapes as whole clusters rather than destemming first. The method that we prefer for pressing Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and sparkling wine grapes because the stems act as a pressing agent so less force is needed, and there is less tannic pick-up in the wine.
Dry: The absence of a sweet taste sensation.
Dry-fermented: Wine that is fermented until it is dry, meaning that all the sugar is converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide during the fermentation process.
Enologist: The American and South African spelling of Oenologist, one who studies wine and winemaking.
Enology: The American and South African spelling of Oenology, the study of wine and winemaking.
Fat: A term implying full bodied, juicy, rich. The opposite of leanFermentation: The conversion of sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast. Many of the flavors of wine are created during this process.
Filtration: Passage of wine through cellulose pads, diatomaceous earth or membranes to remove suspended solids, yeast or malolactic bacteria. Sweet wines must be filtered to remove yeast and prevent re-fermentation in the bottle.
Graft: To splice a varietal vine to the rootstock of another type, usually one resistant to particular pests or diseases.
Malolactic Fermentation: The bacterial conversion of the crisper, apple-type malic acid to the softer, milk-type lactic acid in wine. Also called ML or secondary fermentation, this acid conversion yields wines with increased complexity and softer acidity.
Mouthfeel: The in-mouth impressions of wine when wine tasting, especially the tactile sensations such as “heat” from high alcohol content or “heaviness” or body due to the viscosity from high alcohol and residual sugar in the wine.
Must: The skins, seeds and juice of crushed berries; may also contain whole berries or whole clusters. Red wines are fermented as must; white wines are pressed and fermented as juice.
Sulfites: Sulfur-based compounds used to protect wine from oxidation and bacterial activity.
Sulfur Dioxide: Traditionally used to protect wine from oxidation and microbial activity during aging.
Tannins: The group of astringent and bitter compounds found in the seeds and skins of grapes which slow oxidation and promote aging.
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