Gewürztraminer

Gewürztraminer is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and performs best in cooler climates. Gewürztraminer is a variety with a pink to red skin colour, which makes it a "white wine grape" as opposed to the blue to black-skinned varieties commonly referred to as "red wine grapes". The variety has high natural sugar and the wines are white and usually off-dry, with a flamboyant bouquet of lychees. Indeed, Gewürztraminer and lychees share the same aroma compounds. Dry Gewürztraminers may also have aromas of roses, passion fruit and floral notes. It is not uncommon to notice some spritz (fine bubbles on the inside of the glass).

Regions

Australia

Australian Gewürztraminer is more notable for its occasional use of old names like Traminer Musqué and Gentil Rose Aromatique than the actual quality of the wines. However recently those from the country's coolest regions can be fine examples. These include Gewürztraminers from the Adelaide Hills, Eden Valley, the island of Tasmania, Clare Valley, Yarra Valley and the vineyards scattered in the Australian Alps.

Canada

Canadian wine regions where it is grown include Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, the Niagara Peninsula, and the north shore of Lake Erie and Prince Edward County wine regions of Ontario. German Gewürztraminer - may be Red Traminer

France

 Gewürztraminer reaches its finest expression in Alsace, where it is the second most planted grape variety and the one most characteristic of the region. It grows better in the south of the region. Styles of Gewurztraminer d'Alsace (fr) range from the very dry Trimbach house style to the very sweet. The variety's high natural sugar means that it is popular for making dessert wine, both vendange tardive and the noble rot-affected Sélection de Grains Nobles. As mentioned above, around Heiligenstein there is a grape known as Klevener de Heiligenstein, which is a Red Traminer (Savagnin Rose) and not a true Gewürz; the Heiligenstein wines are certainly more restrained than other Gewurztraminers d'Alsace.

Germany 

Germany has about 10 square kilometres of the variety, but it is very different from that of their neighbours across the Rhine, as suggested above a lot of their "Gewürztraminer" is probably Red Traminer. The Germans go for a relatively dry style, that tries to subdue the natural flamboyance of the grape.

Vine and viticulture

Gewürztraminer is particularly fussy about soil and climate. The vine is vigorous, even unruly, but it hates chalky soils and is very susceptible to disease. It buds early, so is very susceptible to frost, needs dry and warm summers, and ripens erratically and late. Its natural sweetness means that in hot climates it becomes blowsy, with not enough acidity to balance the huge amounts of sugar. On the other hand, picking early to retain the acidity, means that the varietal aromas do not develop, and these aromas may be further diluted by overcropping in an attempt to overcome the low yields.

Refernces

1. Peter K. C. Ong and Terry E. Acree. "Similarities in the Aroma Chemistry of Gewürztraminer Variety Wines and Lychee (Litchi chinesis Sonn.) Fruit"
2. Wine Access: About Gewurztraminer
3. Barbara Adams, "Cheese and Wine Pairing Recipe: Hirtenkäse Cheese and Gewürztraminer Wine," found at Barbara Adams' Beyond Wonderful website.
   
4. Genetica Del Traminer". Gewuerztraminer, Traminer Aromatico. Symposium in Bolzano, Italy.
5. Jancis Robinson Vines, Grapes & Wine pg 253 Octopus Publishing 1986
6. [|Bleisch, B.I.]; R.M. Pool, W.B. Robinson, T. Henick-Kling, B.K. Gavitt, J.P. Watson, M.H. Martens and R.S. Luce (1996). "'Traminette' Grape".
7. Maul, E.; Eibach, R. (2006). "European Vitis Database". Information and Coordination Centre for Biological Diversity (IBV) of the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), Deichmanns Aue 29, 53179 Bonn, Germany.