Understand the grape
Getting to know the grape
Smell first, then taste. Gewürztraminer smells sweeter than it usually is. Rose, lychee and ginger can suggest sugar even in a dry wine, and the reverse is also true: a few grams of sugar can sit quietly behind a rich texture. That is why the sweetness word on an Alsace label, sec, demi-sec, moelleux or doux, is worth reading before you buy. The grape also has relatively mild acidity, so the wine feels broad and soft rather than sharp, and alcohol is often high. The German word gewürz means spice, and the spice here is part of the grape rather than the oak.
The grape has thick, slightly reddish-pink skins and ripens to high sugar levels, which is why it makes both rich dry wines and late-harvest sweet ones. It is also unreliable. The flowers and small berries can drop off at flowering, and yields are often low, so growers rarely see a large crop. A dry, sunny autumn lets the grapes ripen fully, which is part of why Alsace, in the rain shadow of the Vosges, suits it so well. Strong oak flavours would compete with the scent, so producers generally avoid them.
Where Gewürztraminer changes
Grape to place
Compare how the grape grows and tastes in these places. Each guide explains the local wines; the Atlas shows where they come from.
Alsace
The classic reference. The label says Gewurztraminer without the umlaut, and the rules ask for riper grapes than for Riesling. Bergheim is a village name allowed for Gewurztraminer only, and Grand Cru sites such as Altenberg de Bergheim show it at its most concentrated. Check the sweetness word.
Alto Adige
About 613 hectares, roughly one tenth of the vineyard, on limy loam in warm, well-ventilated sites in the south. The grape probably takes its name from the village of Tramin, a link the German Wine Institute calls disputed. Producers now aim for a fresher, firmer style.
Pfalz
Germany's main area for the grape, with about 508 of its 1,122 hectares. The German Wine Institute points to a vineyard of around 400 years old at Rhodt. Dry to semi-dry wines are common, with noble sweet versions as a specialty.
Rheinhessen
About 233 hectares of Gewürztraminer, the second largest area among the German regions the German Wine Institute lists, behind the Pfalz. A small share of Rheinhessen's vineyards, so look for the grape name on the label.
Baden
Around 137 hectares, with a focus on the Kaiserstuhl, a volcanic hill range in the south-west. Look for the grape name alongside Baden and the producer's own description of sweetness.
What changes the result
Vineyard and cellar
The ripeness of the grapes, contact with their skins, and time in tanks or barrels all help shape the wine. Here is what to look for.
Gentle, aroma-first winemaking
Because the scent is the point, producers generally avoid strong oak flavours. Rolly Gassmann, for example, ferments with local yeasts over four to six months and then ages the wines on fine lees for at least 11 months, which adds texture while the lychee and rose character stays in front.
Harvest timing
Ripeness and dry extract
The grape ripens to high sugar levels. In Alsace the regional rules ask for at least 185 grams of sugar per litre in the juice, rising to 193 for village-named and single-site wines. The appellation describes the wines of Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris as fruity, supple and marked by high dry extract, meaning a lot of non-sugar substance behind the fruit.
Later picking
Late harvest and noble rot
Alsace labels Gewurztraminer as Vendanges Tardives from grapes of at least 270 grams of sugar per litre, and as Sélection de Grains Nobles from grapes affected by noble rot at 306 or more. The results are rich, often with candied fruit and a fresh finish. German noble sweet selections can age for many years.
Dry, off-dry and sweet styles
German producers make Gewürztraminer dry to semi-dry, or as noble sweet Spätlese and Auslese. Alsace adds its own late-harvest tiers above. The same grape can therefore be dry, softly off-dry or properly sweet, and the label wording is the only reliable guide.
Read the label
On the bottle
A label may name the place instead of the grape. These names and terms help you work out what is in the bottle.
- Alsace Gewurztraminer
- The appellation is Alsace and the grape is Gewurztraminer, spelled without the umlaut on French labels. The wine must come from that grape alone.
- Sec, demi-sec, moelleux, doux
- The sweetness indication required on white Alsace wines since the 2021 vintage. Sec is dry, demi-sec off-dry, moelleux medium-sweet and doux sweet. For a grape that smells sweet, this is the most useful word on the bottle.
- Alsace Bergheim and Alsace Grand Cru
- Bergheim is a village name allowed for Gewurztraminer only. A Grand Cru label names one of 51 classified sites, such as Altenberg de Bergheim, and Gewurztraminer is one of four grapes allowed on them.
- Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles
- Late-harvest and noble-rot-selected sweet wines, with the grape and vintage on the label. They are not the same as a regular off-dry bottle.
- Südtirol and Alto Adige Gewürztraminer
- Südtirol is the German name for Alto Adige, and labels may carry either. The grape name keeps its umlaut on Italian and German labels.
At the table and in the cellar
Practical use
Serve
Serve dry and off-dry bottles at around 8 to 10°C. Fuller or sweeter wines taste better a little warmer, up to about 12°C. If it is too cold the scent closes up, and if it is too warm the alcohol dominates.
Eat
Gewürztraminer's spice and softness suit food with its own aromatic character: shellfish, Thai and other aromatic Asian dishes, poultry with aromatic sauces, game pâtés and pork with apples. Munster, the strong washed-rind cheese of Alsace, is the traditional match. Sweet versions go with blue cheese and desserts built on marzipan or chocolate.
Keep
Most dry bottles are best within five years or so. The Alto Adige consortium says a wine tasted six or seven years after harvest can show hidden complexity, and late-harvest and noble sweet wines can last much longer.
Taste it in three steps
Three bottles
You can try these bottles on separate occasions. Keep a note of the name, vintage and what you notice, then use the steps below to decide what to compare.
- 01
Begin with a dry Alsace bottle
Choose an Alsace Gewurztraminer marked sec. Smell first, then taste. Notice how the scent suggests sweetness that the palate does not deliver.
- 02
Compare Alto Adige
Pour an Alto Adige Gewürztraminer beside it. Look for a fresher, firmer shape and compare the rose and clove notes with the Alsace bottle.
- 03
Try it with food, then with sweetness
Serve a dry bottle with a mild curry or Munster. If you like it, try a demi-sec or a Vendanges Tardives with blue cheese to see how sweetness changes the picture.