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Turkey Wine III: Gewurztraminer and pumpkin pie
2008 Ste. Michelle Gewurztraminer ($8.99)
Gewurz means “spice”, specifically all those fragrant cinnamons, cloves, coriander and more in the gingerbread end of the spice rack. Those are the flavors we haul out for pies and sweet potatoes this time of year. Without them a house doesn’t smell like the holidays.
The Germans put them in a bottle, and so did their Alsatian neighbors and a few nostalgic Americans up and down the coast. It’s wine everyone is afraid to pronounce but loves to have on the tip of their tongue. Nothing suits a big family grouping better.
Few other white wines match the circus of flavors in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and add their own daring ones as well. It’s a widely used food wine, as is the more noble Riesling, yet its time it had its own day – and that day is Thanksgiving.
P.J. Valckenberg makes an easy-going gewurz from the richly ripe 2006 vintage in Pfalz ($9.99). Northwest vintners in the Columbia Valley like Chateau Ste. Michelle make gewurz with a brighter citrus edge that helps with heavier dishes.
The most elaborate range however is in Alsace. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht treats gewurz with respect and dry refinement starting at its regional level with the tangy 2006 Alsace ($17.99). That’s just the start of a range of ZH vineyards and vintages B-21 stocks, including the late harvest 2005 Hengst ($79.99) which is a holiday feast on its own. Skip the turkey.
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