2005 Gewurztraminer Altenbourg, Domaine Weinbach

After 3 months with full focus on Vasaloppet, the worlds' largest and longest ski race, Alsace will get full attention!

Altenbourg is a vineyard located just above the village Kientzheim, on a gentle slope with relatively heavy soil, rich in limestone. The terroir is exposed to sun, but still the soil is quite heavy and the winds are moderate. This combination of soil and micro climate allows Gewurztraminer to mature evenly and slowly, maintaining its' acidity. In addition noble rot often develops which concentrates the aroma and the flavor even more. This may be the greatest terroir for the signature grape variety of Alsace.

2005 Gewurztraminer Altenbourg from Domaine Weinbach in Kaysersberg is deep golden yellow. The aroma is sublime, yet powerful, offering ginger, coffee, pineapple, rose petals, lemon and dill. The taste is sweet but perfectly balanced, with superb acidity, velvety texture and an aftertaste that lasts for ages. A great wine from a truly great producer. Price: €30.

2004 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg, Mittnacht Frères

Hunawihr is a small village with just two streets. But there are some producers you absolutely can not miss: Mader (with its dry rich style), Sipp-Mack (on the way back after the painful split in the Sipp-Mack and Agapé), the cooperative (which never makes you disappointed) and the discrete but absolutely fabulous Mittnacht Frères. The firm is located on the main street, opposite François Schwach and David Ermel, and is run by cousins ​​Marc and Christophe. Here are all the wines very, very high quality.

2004 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg from Mittnacht Frères in Hunawhir is golden yellow. The nose is fresh and tight with hints of ginger, peach, smoke, grapefruit and wet stone. The taste is complex with creamy fruit, firm acids and a honey-like sweetness that leads into a long, balanced finish. Yezzz! Price: 18 €.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg, Louis Sipp

Grand Cru Osterberg provides some of Alsace freshest wines, regardless of grape. Often you'll find firm acids of lime and lemon in the Rieslings, and even Gewurztraminer from Osterberg is tight and elegant despite much residual sugar. The character comes because Osterberg slopes slightly to the east rather than to the south, while the heavy and calcareous marl soils keep protects the acids during the ripening process.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg from Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé is green shimmering in golden yellow. The scent is fresh and it has exciting aromas of cured ham, lavender, honey and grated ginger. The taste is very mellow with a velvety mouth feel, and tight and almost harsh acid that provide energy to balance a natural sweetness. The aftertaste has a lot of salinity, a trait that will become more and more prominent with age. Price: 20 €.

2009 Gewurztraminer Nature'S, Louis Sipp

A few decades ago growers were struggling to get enough sugar in the grapes. Several factors contribute to the facts that the must has higher sugar content today. The climate is warmer, yields are lower and consumers will not accept wine from unripe grapes with green character. For Gewurztraminer this is often a problem. Many Gewurztraminers are considerably sweet, almost sticky, when bottled. But with only 3-4 years of cellaring the sugar integrates and the wine exhibit elegance and purity.

2009 Gewurztraminer Nature'S from Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé has a restrained nose, with milk chocolate, orange, violet and pears. The flavor is rich and strikingly elegant, with supple fruit, a distinct but fully integrated sweetness and a minerality that gives the wine character and length. Price: € 10.

2000 Gewurztraminer Comte d'Eguisheim, Léon Beyer

Léon Beyer makes super-dry wines that are almost undrinkable in its first 4-5 years. But the domaine has the good taste to wait to release the wines until the young wine has filled out and gained substance and character. The ugly duckling, sort of.

2000 Gewurztraminer Comte d'Eguisheim from Léon Beyer has grown on Grand Cru Eichberg and has a golden yellow color. The aroma is saturated with ginger, cloves, figs, quince marmalade, expensive vanilla and candied oranges. The taste is almost completely dry, but layers of fruit unfold as a peacock tail in the mouth, offering one sensation after the other. The finish is long, fresh and subtle with a nice minerality that lingers on forever. A magical wine, a privilege to drink it. Price: € 30.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Odile Weber

Odile is an important name in Alsace since Sainte Odile is the patron saint of Alsace. She was born blind in 662 A.D., as the daughter of her cruel father Etichon, Duke of Alsace. During her time on earth she managed to bring back her brother from the dead, regain her own sight through prayers and make her father build a monastery in Hohwald close to Andlau, southwest of Strasbourg. Odile was canonized 1807.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg 2007 by Odile Weber in Eguisheim offers a fresh nose with lilac, minerals, ripe stone fruits and honey. The taste is medium bodied and elegant with savoury fruit, supported by high acidity and a minerality typical of the terroir. Really good! Price: € 12.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel, Dirler-Cadé

Organic wines is on  march across France, especially in Alsace. Those who work organically, without using synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, can be certified in accordance with AB, Agriculture Biologique, by Ecocert. Those who also works biodynamically may be certified as Demeter or Biodyvin. Dirler-Cadé makes superb wines from the Grands Crus Spiegel, Saering, Kessler and Kitterlé and is certified in accordance with AB and Biodyvin.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel from Dirler-Cadé in Bergholtz has a complex aroma of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, white raisins, red apples and ripe stone fruits. The taste is just over medium bodied with a caressing sweetness that is perfectly  balanced by the ample acidity, and a superb length with complex fruit intermingled with a refreshing minerality. Price: €20.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel, Dirler-Cadé

Alsace wines of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer need 5-7 years of storage before they enter the maturation phase, which lasts at least 20 years, and often up to 50 years. When white wines from New World, and sadly, even many expensive Burgundy from the 1990s and later, fall into pieces even "simple" Alsace wines just keep getting better with age, especially if they come from glorious producers such as Dirler-Cadé.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel from Dirler-Cadé in Bergholtz is reddish yellow, with a complex aroma of orange, vanilla, ginger and maturation tones of leather. The taste is homogeneous, fresh and spicy with a refreshing acidity and a sweetness that begins to mellow and never takes over. The wine has almost no bitterness and is therefore perfect for a not-too-mature Munster Gerome. Price: € 15.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mambourg, Jean-Marc & Frédéric Bernhard

Almost all the Grands Crus of Alsace are oriented to the south-east or due south. Warmest of all is the Grand Cru Mambourg, which rises  like a ski slope over Sigolsheim. Here the snow melts first, and the wines are most often rich, almost thick with a slightly burned and smoky character. Only the most skilled producers are able to master the power of Mambourg and bring out the finess and the minerality that the terroir offers.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mambourg by Jean-Marc and Frédéric Bernhard in Katzenthal is deep yellow. The aroma is extremely complex with plum, elderberry, dried fruits, flint, smoke, and a distinct toasty element as in a mature champagne. The taste is sumptuous and fruity with a hedonistic sweetness which is supported by wonderful acidity and a sandy minerality, supplemented by a slight bitterness in the finish. A bargain! Price: € 13.

2001 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg, Louis Sipp

One can argue that none of the Alsace grape varieties, including Riesling, gain as much on ageing as Gewurztraminer. Young and "Great" Gewurztraminer is often dominated by pronounced, almost pungent aromas of roses, bananas, and spices and the taste may be dominated by a sugary sweetness. But, over time, the aromas gain complexity and become integrated and interwoven, while the sugar in the taste give way for an elegant minerality and acidity, without losing its' charming fruitiness.

2001 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg by Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé has a deep yellow color. The scent is multi-dimensional with grapefruit, mint, cardamom, licorice, honey, yellow apples and strawberries (and much more). The taste is fruity but firm and elegant with a silky sweetness in the finish, which includes a fresh acidity and a minerality bordering to saltiness. To drink now, and over 20 more years. Price: € 19.

2008 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Sporen, Frédéric Engel

Currently, a new wine legislation is  implemented in France. In Alsace, this means that for every Grand Cru, it will specifically be determined which grapes will be allowed. With respect to Grand Cru Sporen, it will be easy to decide on  Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, more to discuss regarding Riesling while Muscat will not stand a chance. For Schoenenbourg in the same village,  Riesling is the ultimate grape but personally, I'm also hoping for Muscat. What a mess it can be! And unfortunately,  we dare not believe that terroirs such as  Grands Crus Vorbourg, Gloeckelberg, Frankstein and Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé will get right to the Grand Cru Pinot Noir. Or?

2008 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Sporen from Frédéric Engel in Riquewihr has a discrete, wonderful scent of roses, cardamom and luke-warm pineapple. The taste is moderately fruity, medium-bodied and supple with some sweetness, a hint of bitterness. It is wonderfully clean and has firm acids that provide  both freshness and structure. The definition of an elegant wine! Price: € 10.

2004 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg, Camille Braun

Gewurztraminer may - if the vineyard is optimal - mature with great dignity. Then the perfumed scent fades, and the high natural sugars melt down to become volume and body. Bollenberg in Orschwihr has a perfect micro-climate which allows the grapes to reach aromatic maturity before the sugar content becomes to high and the acidity too low.

2004 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg has an amazingly youthful, greenish color. The scent is a purebred, typical palette of ripe yellow apples, a little banana, hyacinth and ginger. The spicy taste is perceived to be dry with some salty licorice and silky but firm acids. A superbly balanced wine with only 7 grams of residual sugar and 4.5 g total acidity. Price: € 6.

2005 Gewurztraminer Silberberg, Bechtold

Jean-Marie Bechtold is a strong personality with a strong and genuine commitment to the environment. In and around Dahlheim in northern Alsace he makes biodynamic wines in a very personal style. His hallmark is a special softness that brings out the subtle aspects of his grape material from the half dozen vineyards he carefully manages.

2005 Riesling Silberberg has a full and developed aroma with a spicy character of a genuine Indian curry, a hint of smoky rubber and ripe red apples. The taste is supple and caressing with nicely integrated sweetness within a well-balanced, almost medium-bodied taste.
Price: € 8.50.

2001 Gewurztraminer Réserve, Leon Beyer

It is said that the wines from a particular producer is a reflection of his physiognomy. This is completely wrong. In contrast, the wines may reveal certain personality traits, such as a desire to experiment, perfectionism, traditionalism, and even anarchistic traits. The family firm Leon Beyer in Eguisheim makes classic wines that reflect the attitude of the family. They are extremely professional, orthodox and purposeful, while the wines are welcoming and generous in flavor, aroma and quality, but completely in the absence of populism

2001 Gewurztraminer Réserve has a mature and complex fragrance of roses with Indian spices and preserved fruits. The taste is perfectly balanced with a hint of sweetness that complements superbly refreshing acidity. Price: € 14.

2002 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Charles Baur

Eguisheim has two excellent Grands Crus, Eichberg and in Pfersigberg, but it is the latter that provide the most focused wines. A Pfersigberg is never heavy or overblown, and should show discrete minerality and offers a fragrance of the red earth. Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes are reference varieties, but Muscat fits at least as good, while Pinot Gris has not yet fully convinced on Pfersigberg.

2002 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg has a mature, complex but above all fresh scent with cinnamon, ginger, citrus, honeysuckle and raspberries. The palate is focused and elegant with a trace of vanilla and banana, minerality and zesty acids. The finish is dry due to a pinch of the typical bitterness. A model wine that gives credit to both Pfersigberg and the local style of Eguisheim. Price: € 14.

2006 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mandelberg, Scheidecker-Zimmerlin

Vintage 2006 is heaven or hell, with rot or concentration. Grand Cru Mandelberg in Mittelwihr is also heaven or hell, either square or sublime. Gewurztraminer is certainly heaven or hell, with generous charm or boring stickiness.

2006 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mandelberg is only heaven. The aroma shows breed with smoke, coriander, roses and the hint of banana that characterizes Gewurztraminer that benefit from cellaring. The taste is quite full, with freshness, complexity, depth and a long, lingering aftertaste that is a perfect match for a real, homemade curry. A great personality! Price: € 10.

2007Gewurztraminer Gesetz, Domaine Lucas & André Rieffel

Lucas Rieffel is a young vigneron who is very well known and respected, all over Alsace. Since a decade, he makes well balanced, elegant wines with profound environmental concern, and the various terroirs in the communes of Andlau, Barr and Mittelbergheim.

2007 Gewurztraminer Gesetz offers an aroma of spices and banana, indicating the the wine will develop complexity after a few years of cellaring. The taste includes apricot and pineapple, and is mellow and slightly sweet without being sticky. The sugar will be integrated in a few years, and leave room for a focused variatal character. Superb craftsmanship and a promising future. Price: €8.

2004 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg, Camille Braun

Bollenberg in Orschwihr is an important lieu-dit that would deserve rank as 'premier cru', if such a classification existed. The wines of Bollenberg are, regardless of producer, focused, never blowzy and posses textbook grip and 'fraicheur'.

2004 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg from Camille Braun is light golden. Lilies, banana and turpentine add complexity to the nose. The primary taste offers vanilla ice cream, while the finish is dominated by firmness and licorice. No trace of sticky sweetness. Camille Braun has done it again! Price: € 7.60.

2004 Gewurztraminer Kaefferkopf, Audrey & Christian Binner

Audrey & Christian Binner in Ammerschwihr make dry, biodynamic wines.

2004 Gewurztraminer Kaefferkopf from Binner has spent 11 months "sur lie" before it was bottled without filtering. The nose is very fruity with kiwi, aprocots and pinappe, the taste offers anise and fruit cocktail. Price: €12.

2000 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Kanzlerberg, Sylvie Spielmann

Sylvie Spielmann in Bergheim owns half of the smallest Grand Cru of Alsace. This terroir gives firm wines that need very long to develop and show their full potential. Spielmann is a of master of Gewurztraminer, and in addition to Kanzlerberg and Altenberg de Bergheim she offers a splendid lieu-dit Blosenberg.

2000 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Kanzlerberg has a complex aroma of vanilla, raspberry, liquorice, violet and the spearmint typical of the terroir. The velvety taste offers perfect balance beteen fruit, integrated sweetness and superb acidity. Price: ca €15,00.