Gewürztraminer

A Great Wine with Spice and Charisma

With its scent of rose petals, cloves, lychees, and other tropical fruits as well as a luxuriant texture, is the Gewürztraminer a fascinating variant of grape. The Alto Adige winegrowing village of Tramin (Termeno in Italian) appears to have lent its name to the Gewürztraminer variety. “Traminer” was a term known throughout the entire German-speaking world as early as the thirteenth century. Today, this aromatic white is one of the most sought-after of Alto Adige’s wines.

Cultivation

634 hectares (1567 acres)

the area of cultivation for Gewürztraminer

11.0 %

out of the total area of cultivation in Alto Adige

Serving temperature

10° C. (50° F.)

Min.

12° C. (54° F.)

Max.

Pairs with

Aperitif

Dessert

Fish & seafood

Vegetable dishes

Blue cheese

Datasheet

From origin to cultivation and the aromatic characterization: find here more information on Gewürztraminer.

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Preferred location

Loamy soils rich in lime in warm, well-ventilated locations in the southern part of Alto Adige.

The Gewürztraminer variety today symbolises winegrowing in Alto Adige: with a noteworthy past, a future waiting to be discovered and a present that sees it among the wines that Italians appreciate the most. Recognisable by its clear, intense aroma, Gewürztraminer stems from a history that, taking a long-established taste, has transformed it so that it is now round, soft and powerful in its aromatic expression and sipping structure, enhancing the sugary richness that this variety has always retained.

Alto Adige and Gewürztraminer are linked by many hundreds of years of winegrowing tradition dating back to the fifth century BC. For this grape variety, however, quality first began to play a critical role in its production choices much more recently, towards the end of the 1970s. Its success is probably due to the ease with which certain scents can be recognised, or to its extremely enjoyable character or, again, to its aptitude for going with particular foods. Indeed, this captivating wine lends itself to numerous pairings: with shellfish, molluscs or oriental cuisine, to name but a few. Precisely because of the ever-increasing popularity of these cuisines and flavours, the future of Gewürztraminer is full of the potential of such combinations.

Producers in Alto Adige are, as always, working meticulously on Gewürztraminer: its unique distinguishing feature today is its acidity. The accommodating softness that has marked it throughout its history is now beginning to give way to a freshness. The aim is to obtain firmer, finer, more elegant products that can better express the crispness and dynamism of the fruit. Another characteristic of Gewürztraminer, one that will be increasingly valued in the near future, is its longevity. The tasting of a Gewürztraminer some 6 or 7 years after its harvesting is an experience that reveals the complexity hidden among the small berries that mark this extraordinary variety.