Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer 'Turckheim'

This Gewurztraminer was made from relatively old vineyards located on the warmest part of the gravelly valley floor near the village of Turckheim. This grape variety is the one that needs the most sunshine, and some warmth, during the few weeks before harvest. Like a red grape, Gewurztraminer requires perfect skin ripeness, in order to avoid vulgar aromatics but also green tannins. Phenolic ripeness is paramount for Gewurztraminer. It can be achieved by waiting a long time to harvest the grapes (that is usually done on the richer marl soils, producing sweeter wines) or by planting this grape on a geology allowing for precocious ripeness, like the gravelly and sandy soils. It explains why Gewurztraminer was an important grape in this area in Turckheim. Being able to harvest earlier also helps to control the potential richness of the wines. After a very fast fermentation, this wine ended up bone dry. It was kept on its full lees until bottling.