Gewürztraminer Wine and Pan Asian Food
BY READERS DIGEST
1st Jan 2015 Drinks
French wine is best known for big Bordeaux and crisp Burgundies, and less so for the sweet, fragrant Gewürztraminer wine produced in the Alsace region, on the French-German border. While contemplating what to drink Gewürztraminer with, also think about what bottle to serve with a Chinese or Indian dish.
What is Gewürztraminer?
I previously recommended a Czech pilsner to partner with the oriental lamb medallions; beer is a good fallback when you’re struggling to match drink with Chinese or Indian food, but Gewürztraminer offers a very elegant solution.
Though the name Gewürz means spicy, it’s actually perfumed and sweet, with exotic lychee, rose-petal notes. Seldom oaked but musky and expressive, Gewürztraminer is the perfect oddball to solve the wine-pairing problem thrown up by a chilli-soy-garlic-plum glaze.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Gewürztraminer has rich honey-suckle notes that work beautifully with the jammy, plummy pork. The Wine Society also stock a Chilean Gewürztraminer, made from grapes grown on the cool banks of the Bío-Bío River, which is excellent value at just £6.50 a bottle.
Taste the Difference Alsace Gewürztraminer, Sainsburys, £8
Viñas del Vero Gewürztraminer 2013 Somontano, Majestic, £9.99 (buy two bottles and save 15%)
Zarcillo Bío-Bío Gewürztraminer 2013, The Wine Society, £6.50
Recipes to accompany this wine: