Weingut Theo Minges Edition Rosenduft Gewurztraminer Spatlese Trocken, Pfalz, Germany

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Minges’ 2008 Gewurztraminer Spatlese Edition Rosenduft is far from legally trocken, yet its 25 grams of residual sugar seem to have been swallowed up by some magic and the wine comes off as only very subtly sweet, certainly drier than 90% of today’s Alsace Gewurztraminer. (Admittedly, Gewurztraminer – at least in the land of the Umlaut – kept higher than usual acidity this year; and then there are this vintage’s routinely high levels of dry extract which may cancel sweetness.) In any event, for the vast majority of my audience who don’t give a rose’s aphid whether or not the wine is legally this or that, here’s how it smells and tastes: loaded with the rose petals promised in its name, along with cinnamon, caraway, bacon fat, and peppermint; subtly creamy yet refreshing, with undertones of rich meat stock; long, buoyant, evocative, and possessed of sheer refreshment rare in wines from this grape. It will prove fantastically versatile over at least the next 5-6 years. Many of this year’s Minges wines were allowed to ferment spontaneously. “It stopped fermenting where it wanted to,” remarked Theo Minges, about one of several wines that did not go dry as they probably would have with cultured yeasts, adding that he’s being influenced now by the success of his exercise in wine-making passivity known as the “Froschkonig” (for more about which consult my review of that wine in issue 185). Regina Minges was keen to point out that the relatively low alcohol and delicate refreshment achieved in particular at the lower end of the price scale reflects an early November harvest.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300