Top Gewurtz: Spring Vale Gewurztraminer 2013

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November 25, 2013

Spring Vale Gewurztraminer 2013 (East Coast, Tasmania)
13.6%, Screwcap, $28
Source: Sample
www.springvalewines.com

I think I can count on one hand how many bottles of straight Australian Gewurtz I’ve drunk over the years. Tasted heaps, love the variety, but actually drinking more than a glass? Never happens

But not this Spring Vale.

As vigneron Dave Cush (who has just announced he has left the day-to-day running of the vineyard) explains in this video, the secret to this complex and intense little wine is all about treating it carefully. Whole bunch pressing, plenty of solids, 6 weeks in old oaks, multiple parcel picks – the whole kitchen sink.

It smells pretty sexy too, with an intense of aromatics that is about as varietal as you can get, heavy with nectarine skin and white pepper rotundone spice intensity. It’s a nose that suggests low yields and seriously tasty grapes (Spring Vale is a pretty amazing vineyard for aromatics).

The key to the drinkability here is that the dry palate is not too phenolic, not sweet, not too oily… just Goldilocks style perfect. It’s mid-weight, spicy, intense, rich, crisp wine that that wins on freshness without sacrificing weight or intensity.

Winner.

Drink: 2013-2018
Score: 18.5/20, 94/100
Would I buy it? Absolutely

2013, Gewürztraminer, Tasmania, Wine

Andrew Graham was once voted the 23rd most trusted wine critic on the planet. A WCA Journalism Young Gun now old hack with 25yrs as a buyer, judge, journalist, marketer and too much more.

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