Gewurztraminer

Note: We are now SOLD OUT of Gewurztraminer. Thank you to all fans of this wonderful varietal and your support of our dry, puncheon-fermented Gewurz!

We love Gewurztraminer but we don’t grow it ourselves. We’ve become fond of this varietal over the years - starting when John was winemaker for Navarro Vineyards in the Anderson Valley of California and inspired by our many trips to Alsace - and we love the floral and spice expression of this varietal. Our own vineyard site is just too windy and exposed to allow Gewurz to set fruit consistently, plus we prefer clay soils for this varietal to maximize spice potential in the wine. We source the fruit our closest neighboring vineyard, with growing conditions similar to our own. We make a dry style of Gewurz that is vineyard expressive and richly textured.


2014 "Central Otago" Gewurztraminer, suggested retail is $27/bottle

Our 2014 Gewürztraminer follows along the lines of our previous releases, dry and spicy. Aromatics include classic rose petal and elderflower punctuated by ginger spice. The palate offers vibrant pink grapefruit flavours mingling with cool citrus and ginger notes. Mouth- filling richness is a defining feature of this wine, despite the lack of residual sugars. The wine was partially fermented and aged in a large oak puncheons "sur lies" to develop textural weight and complexity, with fresh aromatics contributed by the stainless steel aged portion.

We had the good fortune to source outstanding fruit from a neighboring vineyard, with growing conditions similar to our own.

The Vintage:The 2014 growing season was marked by an unusually long interval between flowering and harvest, dominated by a cool and rainy weather pattern. It started quite early, with dry conditions and anxious frosty mornings, then settled into warmer temps. Flowering occurred in mid December, with cooler weather and rain setting in, contributing to an unusually long time before fruit set. January continued with the cool and rainy weather pattern, which finally gave way to warmer temps near Harvest.

Our vigilant control of the canopy, exposing the fruit and removing excess growth, meant that we were successful in staying ahead of disease pressure. Come Harvest, we experienced sunny skies and warm temps, and were able to harvest grapes in optimal condition.