A Wine Lover's Look At The White Gewurztraminer And Trebbiano Grapes
The white Traminer also called Gewurztraminer grape may have originated near Tramin in northern Italy. This grape is usually associated with the Baden region of southern Germany from where it expanded along the Rhine and Moselle rivers and into the Alsace region of northeastern France during the late Eighteenth Century. Gewurztraminer can be found in Central Europe, in Germany mostly in the Baden and the Rheinpfalz regions, in France mostly in Alsace, in Austria, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, especially in California.
Traminer wine flavors include grapefruit, litchi, vanilla, minerals, smoke, and spices. They tend to age well. The prefix Gewurz (German for perfumed), when added to Traminer often describes a clone producing a more aromatic, more delicate juice. Cool-climate Gewurztraminer wine has a deep-colored with a perfumed, spicy, floral and yet fruity bouquet. It is full bodied with a high acid content and should be consumed while young. Gewurztraminer wine from Alsace is marked by its fruity, grapey but dry palate. In exceptional years this variety can produce excellent late-harvest wines.
Traminer wines pair well with spicy Chinese, Indian, or Mexican food, mild Sausages, Fruit and Fruit Salad. Gewurztraminer is a good Cheese wine accompanying Boursin, Chevre, and Swiss. It also goes well with Foie Gras, PateSmoked Fish, and Thai food. Late harvest Gewurztraminers should be enjoyed on their own.
Trebbiano has been grown in Italy since Roman times. It may have entered southern France by the Fourteenth Century. It is the most widely planted grape in Italy and the most widely planted white grape in France, where it is called Ugni Blanc. Trebbiano is found throughout Italy in many sub-varieties. In southern France it occurs along the Provencal coast, and in the Bordeaux and Charente regions. It is also found in South Africa, in Argentina and Australia, and in the United States, especially California.
Italy has recently produced dry, low alcohol wine from unblended Trebbiano grapes. In Italy and France these grapes may be blended with other white varieties to produce white wines. They are more often blended with red grapes to produce Chiantis. Interestingly enough this rather prosaic grape present in few, if any, famous wines is a major component of Cognac and Armagnac, including the great ones.
Trebbiano-based wines go well with Fish Stew in Aioli (Mediteranean Mayonnaise), Veal Schnitzel, Chicken, Turkey, Pork, and Shellfish. Cognac and Armagnac make wonderful after-dinner drinks, and can be excellent in fine sauces, and Expresso Coffee.
Over the years I have reviewed a few Gewurztraminer and Trebbiano wines. The former came mostly from Germany and Alsace, the latter came from Italy.
About the Author
In his younger days Levi Reiss wrote or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but he prefers drinking fine German or other wine with the right foods and the right people. He teaches computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his global wine website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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