The sweet scent of osmanthus-flavored wines
Print Edition
WINES bequeath some of nature’s most lovely aromas. The act of fermenting grapes opens up a plethora of perfumes including scents of flowers. Occasionally one of these flowers is osmanthus, the flower featured in today’s iDeal section. In China, this flower is a popular additive to desserts, soups, liquors, cocktails and even wines. Osmanthus infused wines are at best fragrant and pleasant easy drinkers but seldom anything more. The best wines that exhibit aromatic notes of osmanthus are made entirely of grapes.
In most wines, sensations of osmanthus are fairly subtle, usually a secondary or tertiary scent. They are most commonly found in white wines but some reds also feature subtle notes. Discovering these delicate aromas, and sometimes flavors, in wine takes some effort. Some well know varietals that may exhibit olfactory sensations of osmanthus include Gewurtraminer, Torrontes, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Muscat.
All these popular varieties are quite aromatic and, in particular, known for their floral qualities. While scents of roses, violets and other flowers may be far more obvious; many discerning wine aficionados are able to sense the elegant sweet and somewhat buttery aromas of osmanthus flowers.
The Gewurztraminer grape may be best described using a phrase used to describe Russia by Winston Churchill in a 1939 radio broadcast, “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
This is a enigmatic grape that’s difficult to pronounce. The name is German, the best examples come from Alsace in France and the grape originated in northern Italy. Sometime in the early Middle Ages a new grape was cultivated around the small town of Termeno in the northern Italian region of Alto Adige.
Also referred to as Italy’s Tyrollean Alps this is a bilingual region where German is as prevalent as Italian. The German name of Termeno is Tramin and hence the grape gained its name of Traminer.
The Traminer family of grapes is prone to mutation and sometime in the late 19th century a highly fragrant genetic mutation of the grape appeared on the scene. Unlike its green-skinned genetic father, the Gewurztraminer grape featured a spotty, dark pink skin. Despite showing great potential, the new grape was not widely planted until relatively recently.
Another limiting factor that has limited the popularity of Gewurztraminer is that it’s a viticultural nightmare. The vine buds very early, making them vulnerable to frosts, while ideal harvest dates are quite late. The vines are also quite susceptible to pests and viral diseases. Naturally high in sugar and low in acidity, winemakers face the dilemma of picking early to retain freshness while compromising the full development of aromas and flavors or harvesting later and risking an oily, overly fruity wine that’s woefully lacking in acidity. So why would any reasonable winemaker cultivate this troublesome grape? Because when everything goes right, it makes one of the world’s greatest and most unique white wines.
Gewurztraminer wines are from southern Alsace where styles range from bone dry to extremely sweet. The dry wines are commonly golden in color with powerful rose and spice aromas and concentrated lychee and tropical fruit flavors with generous spicy sensations developing in a long complex finish. The distinctive qualities of a dry Alsatian Gewurztraminer wine make them one of the easiest wines to identify in a blind tasting. Their elegant and opulent character make them ideal partners to rich seafood and white meat dishes, while their spicy traits mean they also pair nicely with well-spiced foods including many Chinese, Indian and Thai dishes.
Noble rot Selection de Grains Nobles are ultra sweet with great viscosity and an oily-silky texture with powerful floral, honey and tropical fruit aromas and flavors. Secondary notes of osmanthus are often quite apparent. Some of the best wine producers in Alsace with wines here in Shanghai are Hugel & Fils, Trimbach, Domaine Sparr-Baumann, Weinbach and Zind-Humrecht.
Germany also makes some very good dry Gewurztraminer wines but not in the numbers and quality of Alsatian producers. Alto Adige in northern Italy produces a different but very appealing style of aromatic dry Gewurztraminer wines.
In the New World, the Gewurztraminers of New Zealand stand out as they offer the greatest complexity and typificity (wine word referring to being typical to the variety or region). Personally I believe the Gewurztraminer wines of New Zealand may be on the wine world’s great next discoveries.
Where to buy in Shanghai
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
