Score: 92/100
This sweet white wine by Alsace winery Bestheim is made from 100% late harvest Gewürztraminer grapes.
Tasting Notes
This Gewurztraminer comes in a bright and shiny yellow color filled with golden hues, slightly amber hues betraying it was made from very ripe grapes, perhaps a little dry, from a variety that develop a grey color during maturation, and picked as a late harvest.
The nose is pungent, and greatly aromatic like we expect from Gewürztraminer, but with an outstanding concentration. Powerful notes of dried pineapple, fresh grapes as well as blond raisin aromas, ripe apple, and honey. It smells rich and very fruity, lifted by hints of sweet spices, cinnamon and nutmeg, a wealth of ginger, and delicate fennel seed tones. Sweet, ripe and tempting it smells!
From there, the palate features a medium level of sweetness, it is quite sweet, and little syrupy with a coating oily texture. But the wine’s crisp acidity balances out the sweetness well, freshening up the fruity flavor profile. The ginger and pineapple notes are here well complemented by zesty notes of lemon and orange peel, and deepen by a burst of sweet spices from the mid-palate on.
It tastes somewhat like a rich ginger bread biscuit that would be sprinkled with juicy tropical dried fruit and confit citrus peel and covered in richly-scented herbal honey. Generous, balanced by a good minerality, and powerfully flavored with concentrated Gewurztraminer estery goodness.
Overall
A delightful late harvest Alsace Gewürztraminer, richly concentrated, generously flavored, yet, the whole drinks relatively light-heartedly thanks to a refreshing acidity.
Being a relatively sweet and concentrated white wine, we are here more with a dessert wine to be paired with rich cakes, chocolate fondant or Christmas puddings for example. But if you don’t mind a little sugar before a meal, it may well be enjoyed as an aperitif as well.
Enjoy ?
The wine sample for this review was kindly provided by Rouge Granit French wine communication agency.
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