Gundlach-Bundschu Winery

The 37-year-old vines behind this wine have survived a lot: a hard clay layer below them, the decimating rise of Chardonnay and Merlot all around them, and a long fallow period for the winery. The second and third are no longer factors, and now a rejuvenated Gundlach-Bundschu is producing exceptional Gewurztraminer from great old vines. The folks at Gun-Bun know what they’ve got, because they went to the trouble to harvest the fruit at night and cold-soak half the it on the skins after crush. So you’ll pay a bit more for this Gewurz than other lower-alcohol whites, but it will be worth it.

Start with the color of the wine: deep gold, the kind that doesn’t fade when you hold your glass up to the light. The aromas of honey, pear juice, lychee and rosewater combine beauty and power. And when you sip? If gold were a flavor, this would be it. You get all the aromas as flavors, along with hazelnuts and cashews and some savory summer herbs. Once the long, long finish was finally echoing away into my memory, I started ruminating on the ideal setting for this wine – it really deserves the right context so its qualities can be fully shared and appreciated.

Reviewed May 29, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.