Australian Gewurztraminer wine regional and flavour profile

WHITE | MEDIUM BODY | FULL BODY

Gewurztraminer taste and aromas

Flavours of honey, pumpkin, spice, cinnamon, apricot, pear, and rose, with an overall aroma of Turkish delight.

Gewurztraminer mouthfeel

Medium to full-bodied, rich, dry and ‘grippy’, low acidity, high phenolics, high alcohol

Facts about Gewurztraminer

• Gewurztraminer literally means “Spice Traminer”, or “Perfumed Traminer”.
• Gewurztraminer performs best in cooler climates. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz.
• 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”.
• Gewürztraminer and lychees share the same aroma compounds, which explains its flamboyant aroma of lychees.
• 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) in a Gewürztraminer

Australian regions that produce Gewurztraminer

The Gewürztraminer grape is particularly fussy about climate and soil, and Australia’s finest Gewürztraminers come from the cooler regions of Adelaide Hills, Eden Valley, Tasmania, Clare Valley, and the Yarra Valley, where the cool climates allow the grape to achieve the ideal balance of fruit retention, acid depth, and mineral edge that makes the grape so unique.

Gewürztraminer is a popular grape variety in Austria and Germany, and also has a significant presence in Eastern Europe, however it carries a different name. In Hungary, for example, it is called Tramini, Drumin and Pinat Cervena. Most of the Gewürztraminer wines made in these regions are sweet. Their tastes are diluted and the wine is very light. In Russia, Ukraine and Moldavia, Gewürztraminer wines are used to spice up sparkling wines.

Gewürztraminer is beginning to have a popular presence in New World countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Chile, with great success.

What food to pair with Gewurztraminer

Like Riesling, Gewürztraminer is well-known to offset the spice in Asian cuisine, along with its acidity and mineral notes, however some disagree- Gewurztraminers are often high in alcohol, and have that oily texture. Thus, mixing a high alcohol beverage with spicy hot food will only set your mouth further on fire.

Dry Gewürztraminer goes well with fleshy and fatty (oily) wild game as the acidity cuts through the fats, whereas off-dry and dry Gewürztraminer pairs well with cheeses and desserts.