2021 G'wzr Gewurztraminer

G’wzr (codename Thunder-Monkey) is what you do when you can’t find a Gewurztraminer that you like. You just grow your own. That’s legal, now, in Oregon. And, as it turns out, that is a good thing.

Gewurztraminer is one of the most aromatic of the aromatic white wine varieties that also include Riesling and Viognier. The unadulterated aromas of Gewurztraminer are unrivaled and we simply could deny ourselves no longer. It was the Spring of 2013 when Ernie planted 25 vines that would bare our fruit. One fell prey to a gopher. Undeterred, he pressed on – without said gopher.

This wine was made in the most minimalist way possible. We hand harvested the clusters, which is harder than any other variety due to the exceeding short stem. The clusters were then eased into our press and gently encouraged to “Give it up!” And they did. The juice was settled overnight and then gently flowed into an inert fermentation vessel where a fortnight of flocculation began forthwith.

Not every winery does it, but if you start wandering around the Willamette valley during harvest time you may get the opportunity to discover a winemaker’s experiment. Something fermenting that is not quite ready for prime time, but is showing great promise. In our case, the little fermentation vessel under the lab table made lab work an aromatic pleasure!