Three years ago, when the Golan Heights Winery of Israel released its first Gewurztraminer wine, very few people here had any idea that there was even a Gewurztraminer grape, yet alone how to pronounce it's name. In parts of Alsace, where the grape has been successfully grown for at least four hundred years, many people do not know that there is any other grape.

The truth is that despite its sudden coming into fashion in Israel and in the United States, Gewurztraminer is neither the beginning nor the end of wine. It is, however, one of the most interesting white wines in the world. "Gewurz" means "spice" in German, and many of the wines from Alsace, where the best wines of this varietal are made, have a distinctive spiciness and exotic sense to its taste. More alcoholic than most white wines, highly perfumed, with distinct aromas of roses and lychees and sometimes peaches and ginger, at its best the wine is exotic, broad and mouthfilling, meant to be sipped slowly and rarely in large quantities.

There is some justifiable confusion about the different styles of Gewurztraminer. In Alsace, from where the best and most individual wines of this varietal come, most are dry but those labeled Vendage Tardive or Selection de Grain Nobles have varying ranges of sweetness. Regardless of their level of dryness, Alsatian Gerwurtzraminer has intense flavors and a remarkably floral bouquet. In New Zealand, where this grape has succeeded perhaps better than anyplace else outside of France, the bouquets of the wines are not as pronounced but they do have the concentration and flavors typical of Alsace. The wines of Germany are generally semi-dry and those of Austria invariably sweet. Other countries that have experimented, more or less successfully with this grape include Italy, where the wines are almost always dry and lighter and must be drunk young; Chile,where the wines tend to exotic sweetness; the United States (especially California and Oregon) and Australia where the wines are lighter, drier and more firm than in Alsace. In Israel, where the wine is made exclusively at this writing by the Golan Heights Winery, the wine tends to be semi-dry, floral and light. Latroun, we are tending to the semi-dry, floral and light side.

As to the purchasing of Gewurztraminer, I am convinced that the three greatest producers of this wine, all in Alsace, are Trimbach, Zind-Humbrecht, Hugel et Fils and Domaine Weinbach. My nominee for the greatest of the wines of this varietal in recent years are the 1989, 1990 and 1992 Cuvee des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre of Trimbach, and even at about FFr 300 these are well worth hunting for. Among the wines from this varietal from other countries that I can recommend enthusiastically are:

New Zealand: Coopers Creek, Villa Maria, Matawhero
Chile: Miguel Torres, Concha y Toro
U.S.A.: Navarro, Bridgeview
Italy: Tiefenbruner
Australia: Brown Brothers, Orlando

Eating With Gewurztraminer

Because wines made from the Gewurztraminer grape are so highly scented, spicy and fat, many people have a problem matching them with food. Many will find that dry Gewurztraminer is ideally suited to the cuisine of Alsace. In fact, it would be difficult, to find a better wine match to goose liver dishes, carp cooked in nearly any manner, choucroute garni, quiche Lorraine or bacon soup. In general, it is also appropriate to note that dry Gewurztraminer is well suited to fatty meats and fish.

It is more difficult to find food matches for semi-sweet or sweet Gerwurtztraminer. They do go nicely with most egg dishes, cheese fondue and quiches but many people (including those in Alsace prefer these wines as aperitifs or with their dessert. My own preference with semi dry or sweet versions is to sip them well chilled, either as an aperitif or alongside a cup of steaming hot coffee, instead of dessert.

© Daniel Rogov