It Never Hurts to Sip Gewürzt

The annual arrival of at least some moderate heat would have allowed for an orderly transition from big reds to fresher, lighter summer wines. That was May and given its mid-August and we've only had a few days of summer you can understand that there's a backup of wines to cover.

Today, we turn our attention to Gewürztraminer, a delicious summer sipper that can be a challenging wine for food. In his excellent book Daring Pairings master sommelier Evan Goldstein asked Andre Soltner the former chef of Lutèce in New York City what he enjoyed with Gewürztraminer. His revealing answer was, "When I'm mowing the lawn." Ouch, but clearly Soltner and Goldstein understand that Gewürztraminer can overpower a lot of dishes or, at the very least, compete for the diner's attention.

In the end, Goldstein's take is to think about cooking techniques and preparations that bring out the "ripeness and perceived sweetness in foods." Slow roasted pork belly, caramelized onions or garlic, slow cooked vegetables, smoked chicken or Cornish game hens and even deep frying all make Goldstein's pairing list with Gewürztraminer and its South American-style cousin torrontés.

Equally important are sauces, chutneys and salsas including Indian mango chutney, Chinese plum sauce and tangy fruit based barbecue sauces. I would warn that much of the advice is given on the assumption you will be drinking the richer, often less acidic and spicier, Alsace Gewürztraminer.

British Columbian Gewürztraminer, the bulk of our tasting this week, is not quite the same animal. Usually fresher and fruitier, it has more citrus rind, lychee fruit and bright acidity and a little less of the brooding intensity and oily fruit and spices that so mark the Alsace style.

The good news in and about the Lower Mainland is the wealth of southeast Asian foods we can choose from to come up with our own matches. Spring rolls and satays and exotic rice dishes are all excellent pairing possibilities. Have fun.

North of Kelowna in Lake Country is where you will find Intrigue Gewürztraminer 2010. Typically floral, it has a bright green apple, spicy, peach skin, butter, mineral nose and a soft, full palate with a touch of sweetness. Light lychee fruit flavours greet the palate with more green apple skin, sausage meat, soap and citrus rind flavours. It finishes, as many Gewürztraminers do, with a touch of bitterness but this is an otherwise solid effort at a fair price. Ready to drink.

West Kelowna is home to the Volcanic Hills Gewürztraminer 2009, available in VQA stores and private wine shops. The style is lightish with delicate dried lychee, sausage, rose petal, honey, mineral, peach aromas. The attack is fresh and crisp with elegance and more ripe litchi fruit, mineral, honey, butter and citrus rind flavours. Ready to drink. A move to screw cap should assure this wine's future as delicious and dependable.

The star of British Columbia Gewürztraminer is the remarkable offering from Thornhaven. Even better news is the Thornhaven Gewürztraminer 2010 is now available in B.C. liquor stores. Every year this fresh, ripe, perfectly tuned Gewürztraminer is well worth hunting down. The combination of freshness, varietal character and ripe citrus, lychee fruit flavours with a strong floral undercurrent are exceptional. Terrific intensity and length. Bravo, nobody does it better in B.C. or Canada.

The Naramata Bench is home to the Hillside Estate Gewürztraminer 2010 and its attractive lime rind, rose petal, ginger, leesy aromas. The palate is fresh, crisp, light, elegant with green peach, lime, ginger, buttery notes with rose petal flavours; the finish a bit soapy with some green nuances. Simple but well-made Gewürztraminer made in the tart, food-friendly style.

Okanagan Falls is home to the Wild Goose Gewürztraminer Mystic River Vineyard 2010. A perennial favourite, the 2010 delivers a big floral, spicy, soapy, lychee fruit nose flecked with ginger, honey, grapefruit aromas and fine intensity. It has a very fresh, crisp, off-dry palate with mineral, lime, grapefruit, lychee, rose water and baked green apple flavours.

We conclude with the archetypal Alsace offering Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewürztraminer 2009. The colour is slightly darker than our local versions with an attractive open rich nose of honey, baked peach, warm apple, lychee, waxy, pear and slate aromas. A rich, round, fresh, elegant, very slightly sweet palate. The flavours are waxy, honey, baked pear, butter, mineral, rose and light lychee. Good finesse and length and better pricing. Veal, pork and cheese are all in the mix.

Intrigue Gewürztraminer 2010, Lake Country, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Price: $16 (VQA stores & private wine shops only)

UPC: 627843005759

Score: 86/100

Remarks: Light, lychee, green apple skin and citrus rind flavours.

Volcanic Hills Gewürztraminer 2009, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Price: $18-$22 (VQA stores & private wine shops only)

UPC: 00626990104551

Score: 87/100

Remarks: The style is fresh and crisp with elegance.

Thornhaven Gewürztraminer 2010, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Price: $18

UPC: 00626990012313

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Nobody does it better in B.C. or Canada. Bravo, again.

Hillside Estate Gewürztraminer 2010, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Price: $19 (VQA stores & private wine shops only)

UPC: 00626990019138

Score: 87/100

Remarks: Simple but well-made Gewürztraminer in the tart food friendly style.

Wild Goose Gewürztraminer Mystic River Vineyard 2010, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Price: $23 (VQA stores & private wine shops only)

UPC: 626990040729

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Year in and year out a very reliable label.

Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewürztraminer 2009, Alsace, France

Price: $29

UPC: 003760163404004

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Finesse and length, and much better pricing this year. Veal, pork and cheese are all in the mix.