With it’s distinctive floral and tropical fruit aromas reminiscient of lychee and it’s pink colored skin, Gewurztraminer is, both as a grape in the vineyard and wine in the glass, one of the most recognizable varieties. It’s name is derived from it’s parent Traminer and ‘Gerurz’ the Germany for spice, although this refers to its pungent and perfumed aromatic quality rather than anything inherently spicy. The grape’s pink skins add a depth of color and combine with its high alcohol (typircally around 14% due to its ability to accumulate sugar) to produce wine with lots of body and flavor. The grape is most common in the French and Germany regions of Alsace and Pfalz, but it also becoming more popular in cool climate New World sites in New Zealand and Washington State.
Oregon is without a doubt establishing a reputation for producing to some of America’s finest wines, made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Riesling. The Willamette Valley is the largest and most well known AVA. The Dundee and Eola hills, as well as Ribbon ridge are three of its most promising sub-regions.
White wine is a wine whose color can be pale-yellow, yellow-green, and yellow-gold colored. The wine is produced from a variety of grape varieties. The flavor and color comes from the juice of the grape and sometimes the skin of the grape as well. Interestingly, not all white wine comes from white grapes. Some select red grapes are used as in Champagne.
