‘Gewurz’, zo staat bij ingewijden het druivenras bekend dat intense liefhebbers kent, of absolute haters. De Amerikaanse sommelier en wijndocent Joe Iurato hoort tot de eerste categorie. Dat zou ons verder koud hebben gelaten, ware het niet dat wij vandaag op Nortjersey.com een beschrijving van en een lofzang op deze druif aantroffen die we nog zelden onder ogen hebben gekregen. Ben je een liefhebber van bijvoorbeeld de ‘nobele’ Elzasser Gewurztraminer( en alleen in Duitsland krijgt de u een Umlaut), geniet dan van de volgende laudatio:

‘’There is a line drawn in the wine world that separates the lovers of gewurztraminer from the haters. Rarely will you hear, "Meh, I can take it or leave it." The grape's character is so profoundly unique, like the contortionist sword swallower in a talent show, it's destined to have a divided audience. I happen to be on the side of the lovers. In fact, you may as well stick me on the front lines. You see, gewurztraminer, or "gewurz" as it's often called, is one of my favorite grapes … when it's made well.

After a near complete exodus from the town of Tramin in Italy's Alto Adige region sometime around the 16th century, Traminer, the grape whose roots bore the village name, found its way to the Pfalz region of Germany. It's there, after a complex period of mutation and misunderstanding, the varietal earned the prefix "gewürz," which roughly translates to "perfumed" or "spiced," for its highly distinguishable aromas of, well, perfume and spice. Upon validating its acceptance in German soil, gewurztraminer then made its way down the Rhine River to Alsace, France, where it found another perfectly suitable resting place and become one of four of the region's "noble" grapes. Alongside riesling, pinot gris and muscat, gewurztraminer thrives in the cool climate of Alsace to produce a crisper, drier wine than the often sweeter, stickier ones coming from Germany. Its story is not much different than that other grape – the most famous of the Alsatian nobles, riesling.

Gewurztraminer has since spread to vineyards worldwide, where, in my opinion, this finicky pink-skinned grape varietal is more likely to be produced with flabby, lackluster results than with the aplomb found in German and French styling. It's likely the most consistent producers outside of Europe are situated here, on our own soil, in the Pacific Northwest.

Mystique
 

Upon trying a good gewurz, it's not very difficult for one to grasp the power and mystique of the varietal, love it or not. Imagine a garden of fully bloomed rosebushes, orange blossoms and lychee fruit. Now pitch a tent over it, step inside and inhale. Floral and spice qualities dominate the senses to a point of confusion; how is this made from a grape? Notes of honeysuckle, passion fruit, tea leaves, citrus and mineral are only accomplices in this assault on the olfactory system. The spice carries through to the palate, arm-in-arm with a touch of sweetness to balance it out. A good gewurz will seduce you, own you, and change the way you perceive white wine forever. A bland one will send you back to the wine shop for a bottle of chardonnay instead. Listen to me on this one.

When it comes to pairing gewurztraminer with dinner, there's not a single varietal on this planet that works better with a spicy tuna roll, fiery Tom Yum soup, golden fried snapper with chili sauce or Thai chicken with basil. In other words, if it's got spice and it's Asian, then gewurz should almost always be the plan. Yes, it's also great with roast turkey, gouda cheese, and foie gras, but so are pinot noir and riesling. Gewurz and Asian, however … nothing else comes close.

Problem
 

The biggest problem with gewurz is that it's often difficult to find a decent one for less than 20 bucks. A few larger producers, especially in California, have jumped on the gewurz bandwagon and make nothing but flat, bland, overly sweet whites that could pass for cheap riesling, moscato or even white zinfandel. And many other producers who've taken the grape more seriously haven't quite been able to harness that serious floral and spice character it's capable of producing.