2017 Dry Creek Valley Gewürztraminer - Optima Winery

Juicy lychee, cherry blossom, ripe kiwi. Gooey passionfruit, candied ginger, luscious honeydew. Flower nectar and Chinese hibiscus, cucumber flesh and tall reeds. Sweet melon meets guava puree and canned peach in an impressive display of fragrant and succulent fruit, followed by an intense blast of floral perfume. Lively and heavily aromatic, gushing fruit and flowers with a perceived sweetness that finishes just dry atop a hint of sandy loam. This 2017 Dry Creek Valley Gewürztraminer by Optima Winery is a fresh, fun, and flamboyant white from Sonoma County.

Gewürztraminer is an extremely unique pink-skinned grape variety thought to be native to Northern Italy. It is a member of the Traminer family and has gone through a series of genetic mutations over many centuries as it spread around Europe. It now is most notably one of the premier wine grapes grown in Alsace, France, where it is produced into white wine in a variety of styles. It is often extremely fragrant and aromatic with high natural sugar and relatively low acidity. This bottling, crafted by Optima Winery using Gewürztraminer fruit grown in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley, is a wonderful example of the variety. This wine absolutely oozes a diverse cornucopia of tropical fruit and flower shop fragrance while remaining lean, dry, and not overly viscous. Flavorful to the extreme without ever coming close to cloying, this stuff will force an instant smile onto anyone's face. It's a wonder that this grape is not more popular in the states and we're glad to see it starting to popping up more often. Simply delicious.