Willi Stürz, winemaker (l) and Wolfgang Kotz, export director, Cantina Tramin, Alto Adige, holding their Gewürztraminer Epokale
Photo ©Tom Hyland
When it comes to Gewürztraminer, there are two kinds of people: those who love the wine, and those who can’t pronounce the name. That may sound like a joke, but it is quite true that many consumers don’t buy the wine because it’s too difficult to say (geh-voorts-tra-meener, for anyone that needs help); so when they are deciding on a wine to try, they look elsewhere.
I could lecture on how these individuals don’t know what they’re missing, but to each his own, and if others don’t purchase Gewürztraminer, well, there’s more for myself and others. For those of us that love the wine, there are numerous reasons, not the least of which are the facts that the wine is singular, and perhaps, most importantly, delicious.
The most famous examples of the wine are produced in the Alsace region of northeast France (where the umlaut over the “u” is not used), and in Alto Adige in northeastern Italy. While there are several dozen producers of Gewürztraminer in the region, arguably the finest are in the town of Tramin, which lends its name to the wine (the word gewürz in German means “spicy,” so Gewürztraminer is the “spicy one from Tramin.”)
Gewürztraminer grapes in Alto Adige
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Cantina Tramin, the leading cooperative producer in the town of Tramin, has been specializing in Gewürztraminer for years. The produce several versions, with their most famous offering known as Nussbaumer, named for the vineyard where the grapes are sourced; the vines situated between 1150 to 1800 feet above sea level, are between 10 to 40 years old, and are just beautiful to behold at harvest time, with the lovely pink color of the grapes.
The wine offers textbook Gewürztraminer aromas and flavors, with perfumes of lychee, lanolin and yellow roses; the spicy character of the wine emerges in the finish, which is dry and tends to offer notable persistence, especially in a vintage such as 2019 and 2021. Upon release, the wine impresses, but it truly dazzles after a few years.
Wolfgang Klotz, export manager, spoke about Gewürztraminer at a special luncheon I recently attended at Gabriel Kreuther restaurant in Manhattan. Klotz, who was present along with Tramin winemaker Willi Stürz, spoke about how Gewürztraminer clearly needs time, as the essence of the wine emerges after seven to ten years. This may surprise some, who believe that Italian whites are meant to be consumed between two to five years, but like Verdicchio from the Marche region, as well as Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino from Campania, the finest Italian whites, thanks to lively acidity and proper structure, can drink well for ten to fifteen years, even more when you have the combination of the top producers working with the best fruit from the finest vintages.
To that point, Klotz poured the 2007 vintage of Nussbaumer. Displaying a light golden color, and offering aromas of quince and white flowers, the wine displayed excellent richness, complexity and outstanding varietal purity. Here was an 18-year-old dry Gewürztraminer with excellent freshness, as well as significant complexity. I estimated the wine would drink well for another five to seven years, thanks to its balance, but I may be conservative with that guess.
The Cantina Train winery (green structure on the left) sits amidst vineyards in the village of Tramin, while the Dolomite Mountains dominate the landscape.
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The Nussbaumer was a great way to start this luncheon, but the star of the show was a more specialized version of Gewürztraminer from Cantina Tramin, known as Epokale. This is a selection of the best Gewürztraminer grapes from the winery’s vineyards that is aged for 8 months on the lees. The next step is what makes Epokale so distinctive, as the bottled wine is then transported to a nearby mine located at over 2000 meters (6500 feet) above sea level where its rests for about six years. The first vintage was 2009; we tasted the 2015 and the new 2017 vintages at lunch. The colored the wines is light gold, while the aromas are lychee, lanolin, yellow roses and a note of honeysuckle, classic descriptors for Gewürztraminer. The acidity levels and the depth of fruit guarantee several more years of aging potential for these two wines; I estimate another five to eight years for the 2015, while I believe the 2017 will drink well for another ten years, although I may be a bit conservative with my predictions. Incidentally, the 2009 was the first Italian wine outside of Tuscany or Piedmont to receive a 100-point rating in the influential Wine Advocate publication.
Cantina Tramin, like most cooperatives in Alto Adige, produces numerous wines, with Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay being their largest productions; indeed their Troy Chardonnay Riserva is an outstanding example of its type, while their Unterebner Pinot Grigio is excellent, offering much greater complexity and richness on the palate than most other examples from the region or in reality, anywhere in Italy.
But it is the Epokale Gewürztraminer that dazzles at Cantina Tramin, a wine that is a stunning example of just how good Gewürztraminer from Alto Adige, or any Italian white can be. Yes, this would work beautifully at Thanksgiving dinner (turkey and Gewürztraminer is an iconic pairing), but I recommend you try the Epokale or the Nussbaumer with other special holiday meals, or even just with some simple Oriental foods. If you’ve never paired Gewürztraminer with these dishes, you may be surprised at how well they work together, and wonder what you’ve been missing all these years.