Another Finger Lakes wine to try from our recent trip- this one is a Dry Gewürztraminer which I am pairing with Beer-Can Chicken….  but I am a little concerned.  The cork was funky, looked very wet and there was some schmutz inside the neck.  I ran the first glass through a filter and here goes nothing:

Medium lemon color in the glass.  The nose is somewhat muted, surprising for the varietal but not for this particular bottle.  I do get some citrus, hazelnuts, bread and a hint of the telltale lychee.  The palate is better.  Medium intensity flavors of tangerine, lemon, lychee, rose, geranium and no sign of the bread or nuts.  Light to medium bodied it has gentle acidity and a medium length finish.  I love the varietal, but this bottle might be suffering.  Luckily I have another one nearby.  I’ll give it a try in the near future.  For now this $25 wine gets 86 points and 2 stars.  Hopefully it will improve on the next go.  Salut….

UPDATE

I wrote to the the winery to let them know I had an issue and they promptly refunded me the cost of the bottle.  Tonight- I taste the second bottle.

It has evidence of being frozen, with crystalized deposits in the neck.  The appearance is fine otherwise.  The nose shows much better than the previous bottle.  Medium intensity aromas of geranium, lemon, tangerine, rose and lychee that are crisp.  The palate is dry from a residual sugar standpoint but the varietal always has a certain sweetness to it that I love.  Medium (+) intensity flavors of the aforementioned citrus and floral notes, with less emphasis on the lychee.  Shame, as I look forward to that component in Gewürztraminer.  Medium bodied it has great mouthfeel for a wine of low acidity.  The finish is decent in length and concentrates on the flowery flavors versus the citrus.  It is drinking far better than the flawed bottle and gets a respectable 89 points from me making it a 4 star effort.  Bravo for pulling it together!  Salut….

On our recent trip to the Finger Lakes I picked up some bottles to bring home for a more in-depth tasting and evaluation.  We kick off that series with this aromatic white made from the Gewürztraminer grape.  It’s a medium shade of gold in the glass.  The nose is full of aromatics- lychee, rose water, lemon verbena and finely sliced ginger.  There is a sharp focus in this wine and some minerality to boot.  Th palate tastes off-dry but I doubt there is any residual sugar- the 13% ABV points to a full fermentation.  Beautiful flavors of lychee, lemon verbena, ginger, honeysuckle and apricot would make me think I am drinking nectar.  Medium acidity makes for a great mouthfeel- this wine coats the palate with it’s full bodied weight and finishes long.  I am a big fan of this grape and look for it when shopping- this 91 point effort is well worth ordering if you like an interesting wine that veers away from the usual.  At $17 it gets 5 stars from me.  I would pair this with spicy dishes, Asian fare, even Jamaican Curry.  Drink chilled sooner rather than later to preserve the freshness.  Salut….