Varietal: Gewurztraminer
Region: Virginia – USA
Cost: 17
Light in the glass with orange peel on the nose. Â Effervescent with a mineral finish that pairs well with chicken, sausage, cheese, smoked salmon, and fruit.
Recommendations: I’ll be the first to admit that I was hesitant when my wife and I were doing a tasting at Afton Mountain Vineyards some months ago and saw Gewurztraminer on the list. Â However, our pourer assured us that we would enjoy it and we decided to trust him. Â I’m really glad we did. Â When most people think of Gewurztraminer they think of a sweet, almost syrupy white wine that is better suited for dessert than anything else, and they would be partially correct in that assumption. Â However, as I’ve learned recently both from Afton Mountains and from a tasting of Gewurztraminer from the Finger Lakes, that’s not all there is to it.
Light in the glass, the Afton Mountains Gewurztraminer offered up slight citrus on the nose while having a great efferevescent and mineral flavor with just a hint of apple. Â A dry wine that will remind more people of a Champagne than anything else, this is a great deck wine as the heat continues to increase, and my only regret in opening this bottle was that we only have the one. Â
If you’ve tried Gewurztraminer before and didn’t like the sweetness of it, you don’ t have to worry with this wine. Â While Afton Mountain Vineyards claims there’s some residual sugar, I think most people will be hard pressed to find it. Â I highly recommend this wine for the summer and personally plan to visit them again to buy some more sooner rather than later.
