2006 Peninsula Cellars Gewurztraminer

This retails for $15 through the winery.

White tea and floral qualities on the nose.

In a word - floral. In two words - herbal tea. In three words - I'm digging it. That's really 3 1/2 words isn't it? I once had an Alsatian Gewurz at a tasting (it was $70, so I passed on buying a bottle) that was pungent, bone dry, like drinking perfume straight - it was borderline obscene but it was one of the most fascinating wines I've ever had. This isn't quite that crazy, but it's the closest thing I've had. Bone dry and floral - rosewater, chamomile, vanilla bean - with a touch of underripe pineapple for fruit,

The finish is borderline Chardonnay like - pineapple, vanilla, hints of oak.

This one might be polarizing, I can see why someone wouldn't care for it, but to my palate, this wins the Old Mission Peninsula Tweet and Taste. Kudos.

This bottle was comped as part of the Tweet and Taste Michigan virtual Twitter tasting which took place on Monday, June 7, 2010. All attempts have been made to be honest and unbiased.

Score: 92

2005 Chateau D'Orscwihr Gewurztraminer Bollenberg

This retails for about $22 in the US. (Curiously, the 2007 on the winery's website costs nine Euros, but other American shops are selling various vintages – exact same label – for $20 or so).

The nose is mostly peach driven.

Fairly simple, peach and golden apple dominate, with a touch of vanilla, spice, and a fine balance of sugar and acid.

A very Gewurzy finish – a sort stewed, spiced apricot quality lingers for quite a while.

Alsace is known for making dry whites, but this is the second we've had from the region that has been rather sweet. A decent wine, but outrageous at $22. If you're in Europe and will be paying nine Euros then it may be worth a whirl, but I can't get behind this.


Score - 82

2004 Domaine Jean-Marc Bernhard Grand Cru Mambourg Gewürztraminer

Another bargain from the clearance sale. This was severely reduced to under $8, but I couldn't tell you the original price.

A very big nose – I'm thinking canned pineapple.

Damn - this is a huge Gewurz. Honey, spiced stone fruit – peaches, apricot, even some pineapple and mango – solid acid – just big all around. Lots of floral notes, spice, and lychee. Big alcohol too – the label reads 14% - quite high.

Some nice spiced stone fruit lingers on the finish for some time.

This is good stuff – big yet balanced. It's surprisngly sweet for a wine from Alsace and there's nothing to suggest it, but I'd treat this as a dessert wine. If you tend to go for sweeter wines it may work with dinner, but I wouldn't recommend it.

2005 Columbia Winery Gewurztraminer

We got this one for $8 at Costco.

Pineapple on the nose.

Spicy stone fruit on the palate – spiced peach pie filling. A bit sweet but quite acidic to it all balances together nicely. Some pineapple notes as well.

A bit of honey lingers on the finish and some vanilla notes start to come through.

For $8 this one is easily recommendable.

N/V Galena Cellars Late Harvest Gewurtztraminer

Galena Cellars is one of the strongest wineries in Illinois....we’ve tried quite a few of their wines and they’re usually fairly solid. I had this one at a tasting some time ago and liked it enough to pick up a 375 ml bottle for about $15.

A bit of stone fruit on the nose - maybe apricot or nectarine.

Very nice and smooth on the palate - a bit of spice, peach pie, apricot, and honey.

The finish has some nice spicy notes that linger.

Clean, sweet, balanced, and refreshing: an excellent dessert wine at this price - strongly recommended.

2004 Domaine Bernhard & Reibel Vin D’Alace Gewurztraminer

Gewurz from Alsace is normally not our style but we really enjoyed this one at a recent tasting. The cost was about $16 or so.

A very spicy and floral nose, not much in terms of fruit, but plenty there.

The palate is very aromatic....lots of rose water and orange blossom, crisp acidity, a touch of sweetness, some light pink grapefruit and apricot.

The finish doesn’t bring all that much...it fades somewhat quickly but there is a lingering floral essence - more of that orange blossom - almost like a tea.

This is the type of wine I’d bet you’ll either appreciate or you’ll just hate....personally I don’t think I like it enough to buy again, but I’d have a glass at a wine bar because I appreciate what it brings...strange tastes and a nice complexity. It’s certainly not “quaffable”....it is a “wine drinker’s wine” to be sure.

2005 J.W. Morris Gewurztraminer

We had this label’s Riesling yesterday and dumped most of the bottle. I figured I’d open the Gewurz today and see how it is....once again, $4 for the bottle.

Pear and apricot on the nose.

Grapes and apples on the palate with a touch of spice. Much better than the Riesling (not say much honestly), but I’d still say it’s a bit too flabby.

There is a finish with grapes and it leaves a rather unpleasant sticky sugar feel.

So, there you go....halfway through the first glass I thought it might be passable, but the more you have, the less drinkable it is.

Needless to say, these two wines have convinced me never to buy J.W. Morris again.

2004 Vinum Cellars G2 KA-POW Late Harvest Gewurztraminer

A while back we reviewed St. Gisbertus Eiswein–a $10 bottle from Aldi–in that review I said it was alright but you can do far better for a few dollars more. When I wrote that, this is the wine I had in mind. Our local wine shop has this available for $12 a bottle.

Floral notes with pineapple and citrus on the nose.

Apricot, honey, a hint of grapefruit, a touch of pineapple, a zing of orange zest, and a suggestion of flowers - perhaps rose water - on the palate....certainly sweet, a bit syrupy, but a nice hit of acid that gives it a phenomenal balance (for a dessert wine).

If we had a cellar I’d own a case of this. I cannot recommend this one strongly enough.

2005 St. Christopher Gewurztraminer

I picked this one up some time ago for $6 and remember thoroughly enjoying it so I figured I’d give it another shot.

This can be described in one word: quaffable. It’s almost dangerous in how easy drinking is. On the nose, lots of floral and some nice ripe stone fruit.

The palate is all about apricot, peaches, and just a touch of spice–a bit like peach pie filling. It’s got some acidity, but a bit less than I’d expect, so it’s not all that well balanced, but it’s still a great, simple wine.

A bit of sweetness and a bit of spice, if you’ve never had a Gewurz you can do far worse. This may be a sweet and simple version, but it’s got a lot of varietal characteristic and I think, for the price, you’re not going to do better.

2003 Pierre Sparr Gewürztraminer Reserve

Lychee and apricot on the nose.

It’s fruity–peaches/stone fruit but not all that sweet, I get lots of floral notes and a reasonable amount of honey. The finish does have a bit of spice, but not as big as I’m used to.

This is pretty much like this is what we’re used to (US style), only everything is a bit more subtle...slight sweetness, slight spice, but firm acid. I don’t say that as a bad thing really, because it’s all still balanced and not overwhelming as some other Gewurtz we’ve had tend to get.

I like this a lot, but Fran does not. Fran needs a bit of sweetness and lots of acid to balance it out.....I do prefer that, but this is still good. It maybe a “a bit” sweet but compared to a lot of the Gewurtz from Germany, this is bone dry.

It’s not bad, for a $13 Alsace Gewurtztraminer it’s a decent representation of the Alsatian style.

If all you know is Oregon and Germany for this varietal, I’d say pick this one up....it’s not as bone dry or pungent as some Alsatian Gewurtztraminer that I’ve had, but it’s heading down that road and worth checking out for that fact alone.

2005 Fetzer Gewurtztraminer

This is our "house" Gewurtztraminer. You can find this on sale for many places for around $6-8...if you can't find it for as low as $6, you'll easily find it under $10.

If we're having any sort of Thai or Indian food or we're making a stir fry, this is the bottle I go for. Since you can find this at almost any grocery store in our area, it's an easy one to keep an eye on and once it goes on sale I pick up a few bottles.

I get some peaches on the nose, perhaps a bit of apricot--stone fruit, basically. Fran smells citrus fruit, and I agree with that as well. There's spice in there as well that suggests peach cobbler. I also get some floral notes. Definitely not a simple wine...there's a lots going on in the glass.

On the palate I feel like I'm getting something different with each sip....sometimes I get tons of grapefruit, sometimes it's Granny Smith apples, sometimes apricot, sometimes peach cobbler. It's all that and none of that at the same time. I don't know how many other wines in this price range have this much going on. Fran gets the apples but not grapefruit,

If I had complaint it may be a bit too sweet. You don't notice it until the finish, which has a lingering honey like sweetness that can get to be a bit much if you're drinking it alone.

At this price point, I don't think you can find a better Gewurtz. We've tried the other Gewurtzs in this price range--Hogue, Sutter Home, Chateau Ste Michelle. Beringer--and not one comes even close to this one (well, maybe Hogue). This is easy to find, cheap, and a very safe bet.