Helfrich Gewurztraminer 2008
-
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Food Pairing: Spicy Asian cuisine, Chilean sea bass, smoked oysters, quiche Lorraine, roasted chicken, turkey or as either an aperitif or digestive.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Offers lots of spice, with curry and white pepper notes and candied orange and cherry, rose petal and lychee flavors. This is a plump, juicy version that finds good balance. The finish is tangy. Drink now. 10,000 cases made.
The Helfrich family has been in Alsace for six generations making wine and “Eaux de vie” (Plum white brandy, Cherry brandy or Kirsch schnapps)
In 1979, Joseph Helfrich founded Les Grands Chais de France which in the past 33 years has become the second largest wine company in France. Frederic Helfrich and his sister, Anne-Laure, representing the newest generation of the family are now at the helm of the international growth and future markets for LGCF.
The winery is in Marlenheim (named Arthur Metz) just Northwest of Strasbourg, the capital of the region.
The family line of “Noble” wines are made with fruit sourced from six vineyards in the heart of Alsace’s famed “Couronne d’Or” region near the city of Strasbourg. The Grand Cru line is crafted with grapes from the Steinklotz Vineyardin in Marlenheim located nothern Alsace on the Eastern side of the Vosges Mountains
Gewürztraminer, an expressive and aromatically distinctive white grape variety, is considered a noble variety in the Alsace region of France, and produces wonderful wines in the mountainous Alto Adige region of NE Italy. Generally this grape grows well in cooler regions and its natural intensity makes it a great ally for flavorful cuisine such as Indian, Middle Eastern or Moroccan. Somm Secret—Because of a charming perfume and tendency towards slight sweetness, Gewürztraminer makes for an excellent gateway wine for those who love sweet wines but want to venture into the realm of drier whites.
With its fairytale aesthetic, Germanic influence and strong emphasis on white wines, Alsace is one of France’s most unique viticultural regions. This hotly contested stretch of land running north to south on France’s northeastern border has spent much of its existence as German territory. Nestled in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, it is one of the driest regions of France but enjoys a long and cool growing season. Autumn humidity facilitates the development of “noble rot” for the production of late-picked sweet wines, Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles.
The best wines of Alsace can be described as aromatic and honeyed, even when completely dry. The region’s “noble” varieties, the only ones permitted within Alsace’s 51 Grands Crus vineyards, are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Gris.
Riesling is Alsace’s main specialty. In its youth, Alsace Riesling is dry, fresh and floral, but develops complex mineral and flint character with age. Gewurztraminer is known for its signature spice and lychee aromatics, and is often utilized for late harvest wines. Pinot Gris is prized for its combination of crisp acidity and savory spice as well as ripe stone fruit flavors. Muscat, vinified dry, tastes of ripe green grapes and fresh rose petal.
Other varieties grown here include Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chasselas, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir—the only red grape permitted in Alsace and mainly used for sparkling rosé known as Crémant d’Alsace. Most Alsace wines are single-varietal bottlings and unlike other French regions, are also labeled with the variety name.