Wine Club 13: New Age White, Valckenberg Gewürztraminer

Date: May 23rd, 2012
Host: Kim
Served: Edamame, baked sweet and sour chicken over basmati rice, assortment of ginger and almond cookies

New Age White NV (Argentina) 90% Torrontes + 10% Sauvignon Blanc, 9% alcohol, $9

Kim says (18): At this time, we were using the second version of our rating forms, so 18 might be a little out of context. Regardless, the two missed points were in Bouquet... probably because I couldn't actually put a finger on anything specific. But it had good body, a nice finish and of course, frizzante is always fun!

Andrea says (17):A delicious frizzante Torrontes. Sweet and fun. Would make a nice summer wine. I only docked it in the 'Bouquet' and 'Overall' catagories.

Christine says (15): Really frizzante, with a slightly foamy head. Pale and watery color. Smelled of honey, peaches and slight floral. It was good. Sweet, foamy and refreshing with some tartness mid-palate. Perfect summer wine! A good aperitif, and would be popular even with those don't drink wine. It would make a good cocktail with peaches or peach liqueur in there...like a funky take on Bellinis. I liked this wine more than my score of 15 indicates. The zing of acidity actually hurt my jaw, though, and that cost it a point.

Valckenberg Gewürztraminer 2009 (Germany) 11% alcohol, $13

Kim says (12): While I acknowledge Gewürztraminer as being my "gateway" white, I think I need to put some serious effort into determining what exactly it is that made me fall in love with it in the first place... it will be hard work but I am dedicated! I think maybe this is one of those wines that can be extraordinarily good, but can also be extraordinarily bad. This particular Gewürztraminer had the faint aroma of sweat but was well-balanced and had good appeal.

Andrea says (17): The aroma of this wine was sweet, which is par for the course on a Gewürztraminer, but also musty, smokey, oaky, and sweaty, which I found very unique for this type of wine. Overall I liked it very much. I gave it full marks in body, balance and finish. A nice wine that went well with the ginger cookies you can see me enjoying!

Christine says (17): Very dark honeyed gold color. Pretty! It smelled like sweat, minerals and slightly of alcohol. The flavor was complex, balanced and good, with a kick of petroleum. I liked the wine and marked it a buy-again. Though it suffered in bouquet points, it made up for it everywhere else.