Trimbach surprise

mark meyer

mark meyer
Nicole made some pork rillettes and in looking for a wine to accompany it had happened upon a 1992 Trimbach Gewurzt. The basic bottle-passively stored. What a great surprise it was-it had a slightly sweetish bouquet but tasted and finished dry. Was very fresh and just kept improving over time. I wonder how long this wine could age? Would current vintages age as well?
 
I love it when that happens.

I'm never surprised anymore because I keep pretty good records and don't buy random shit. My dad's cellar is much more interesting in some ways. He buys some random shit, has no idea what he has, but you run into unexpected delights from time to time.
 
Trimbach is long haul wine. That doesn't surprise me at all. Had an
83 Gewurtz a couple years ago that was a delight. Better on day two!
 
not sure what was surprising - that a Trimbach aged like a Gewurtztraminer should, or that you liked an aged Gewurtztraminer? Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz, but they are nothing if not consistent to style and development...yellow label, white or gold.
 
originally posted by mlawton:
not sure what was surprising - that a Trimbach aged like a Gewurtztraminer should, or that you liked an aged Gewurtztraminer? Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz, but they are nothing if not consistent to style and development...yellow label, white or gold.

I was surprised that a $5 wine in less than ideal storage, aged so well-it was the yellow label.
 
If Gewurz harvest was anything like Riesling in 1992 (various authors or adherents of yellows may confirm) than we are once again learning the value of balance, even if at the cost of higher than optimal yields and a lighter style.
 
originally posted by mlawton:Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz...

How would you characterize the Trimbach style for Gewurtz?

I've only had a handful over the years and they seemed friendly and easy to like. Which is not what one would say about the riesling style. So I don't know how accurate my snapshot was.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by mlawton:Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz...

How would you characterize the Trimbach style for Gewurtz?

I was wondering the same thing. Particularly because i don't recall ever having had one. I think the last Gewurtz I had (certainly the last one I recall having enjoyed) was a '76 Hugel (reserve personelle, maybe?) that i shared with Maureen some time in the late '90s; the sweetness and cloy-factor had dropped away to be a mellow background, leaving a lovely minerality and spice. Maureen, do you recall any more about that bottle?
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by mlawton:Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz...

How would you characterize the Trimbach style for Gewurtz?

I've only had a handful over the years and they seemed friendly and easy to like. Which is not what one would say about the riesling style. So I don't know how accurate my snapshot was.

Understated. Emphasis on the damask rose rather than the lychee. Somewhat lean. The opposite of something like Ernest Burn or Hofstatter Kolbenhof.
 
Thanks. I don't drink a lot of gewurztraminer but that makes sense. And now that I think about it, when I said 'friendly' and 'easy to like' that was mainly in comparison to steely young austere riesling and not in comparison to other gewurztraminer.
 
I had a Salicutti Rosso di Montalcino 1999 the other day that was equally surprising. Nicely mature, rather than dead and gone. One might suspect a '99 Rosso (rather than a Brunello) would be gonzo by this time, but not so.
 
We've had a few bottles of the Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre 2000. Elegant and lean, consistent with the house style for Riesling. Takes age well. I like them quite a bit, FWIW, why I bought them.
 
what Levi said. Lean, more rose than lychee, more of a food-friendly Gewurtz than some of the heavier, sweeter styles. Unless the food that you are eating is foie.
 
originally posted by mlawton:
what Levi said. Lean, more rose than lychee, more of a food-friendly Gewurtz than some of the heavier, sweeter styles. Unless the food that you are eating is foie.

Or Biryani. Richer Gewurztraminer works magic with the stuff.
 
originally posted by kirk wallace:
Maureen?
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by mlawton:Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz...

How would you characterize the Trimbach style for Gewurtz?

I was wondering the same thing. Particularly because i don't recall ever having had one. I think the last Gewurtz I had (certainly the last one I recall having enjoyed) was a '76 Hugel (reserve personelle, maybe?) that i shared with Maureen some time in the late '90s; the sweetness and cloy-factor had dropped away to be a mellow background, leaving a lovely minerality and spice. Maureen, do you recall any more about that bottle?

Actually, Kirk, it was a 1986 Zind Humbrecht Goldert and terrific it was.

Although I don't drink much of it, I like Trimbach's Cuve des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre as I think, in the Trimbach style, it tames some of the more blowsy tendencies of alsace gewurtz.
 
just read other people's characterizations of trimbach's gewurtz and apparently we all agree!

what fun is that! :(
 
originally posted by maureen:
originally posted by kirk wallace:
Maureen?
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by mlawton:Personally, I don't like the Trimbach style for Gewurtz...

How would you characterize the Trimbach style for Gewurtz?

I was wondering the same thing. Particularly because i don't recall ever having had one. I think the last Gewurtz I had (certainly the last one I recall having enjoyed) was a '76 Hugel (reserve personelle, maybe?) that i shared with Maureen some time in the late '90s; the sweetness and cloy-factor had dropped away to be a mellow background, leaving a lovely minerality and spice. Maureen, do you recall any more about that bottle?

Actually, Kirk, it was a 1986 Zind Humbrecht Goldert and terrific it was.

Although I don't drink much of it, I like Trimbach's Cuve des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre as I think, in the Trimbach style, it tames some of the more blowsy tendencies of alsace gewurtz.

are you sure? that seem very unlikely to me. you were in NYC; "baby" sitting...
 
I am sure - you'd bought it from david schildknecht. this was a pre-Olivier wine and very well-balanced and very drinkable. I remember being very impressed by the wine.
 
originally posted by David M. Bueker:
originally posted by mlawton:
what Levi said. Lean, more rose than lychee, more of a food-friendly Gewurtz than some of the heavier, sweeter styles. Unless the food that you are eating is foie.

Or Biryani. Richer Gewurztraminer works magic with the stuff.
Another pairing for over-the-top Gewurz - bacon-pear-gorgonzola risotto. Raucous but fun.
 
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