Navarro Vineyards - 2013 Gewürztraminer

2013 Gewürztraminer
Late Harvest
Anderson Valley, Mendocino
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- (750 ml) Sold Out!

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Tough love

We are suckers for sweet wines, especially Gewürztraminer with its seductive floral perfume. Just because we like dessert wines doesn't make it easy or foolproof to produce them. Gewürz ripens early and has tough skins. It is the magic of the noble rot (botrytis) that enables us to produce these nectars. Early ripening means we have a long wait for the cold and humid conditions that promote botrytis. Even then, the tough skins of Gewürz are resilient to botrytis, so it takes longer before the rot spreads. The harvest date for this wine was a month later than our dry Gewürz and a week after we began harvesting our Cluster Select Riesling which, as you can see in the specs, was a lot more "rotten." We love pulling out an extremely sweet, old Cluster Select wine with a rich dessert, but we prefer the moderate sweetness and heady bouquet of this Late Harvest with fresh pears or a holiday snack of cheeses with walnuts and dried fruit. This nectar will transform homemade cinnamon cookies into an awesome treat. Gold Medal winner.

Navarro's late harvest wines are produced from grapes affected with botrytis, a beneficial fungus that concentrates flavors while adding its own honey and apricot notes. The fungus only proliferates late in the season, frequently after the leaves have fallen or, as in the photo , after the leaves have been burnt by frost.

Specifications

Harvested: Oct. 17, 2013
Sugars at harvest: 27.6° Brix
Bottled: Feb. 14, 2014
Cases produced: 449
Alcohol: 11.8%
Residual sugars: 7.0%
Titratable acidity: 11.2 g/L
pH: 3.00

2013 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer

Save this wine for the pies at the end of the meal or to pair with “stinky cheeses” and dried fruit.Duane Pemberton,, Communities Digital News, November 26, 2014.

2009 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer

Navarro makes a host of decadent dessert wines but their end of the Anderson Valley is so noted for its gewürztraminer that a late harvest version is hard to pass up, given its bounty of tropical mango and honey flavors. - Virginie Boone, Press Democrat, November 7, 2011.

This almost clear colored wine has just a bit of yellow coloring. It opens with a very mild lychee bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, and not as sweet as you would think for a late harvest wine. Its flavor profile is lychee with notes of cinnamon and clove. It was well received. The finish is remains semi-sweet and pleasant. This wine would pair well with a lemon meringue pie. Enjoy- Ken Hoggins, KensWineGuide.com,,November 5, 2010.

2006 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer

-Enormously sweet, almost like drinking honey, except that it's wine. With an amazing 21% residual sugar, it just knocks you out with sweetness, but then the rich flavors of apricot jam and vanilla wafer lack in, brightened and balanced with lively acidity. The end result is fabulous- Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast,,October, 2008.

Luscious and honeyed, with floral, ripe peach and spice aromas followed by sweet--but not cloying--dried pineapple, cinnamon and toasty vanilla cream flavors - Tim Fish, Wine Spectator, May 31, 2008.

2000 Vineyard Select Late Harvest Gewürztraminer

It’s hard to believe, but Navarro used to throw away grapes when botrytis infected them. This wine has only 11.4 percent alcohol and residual sugar of 12.6 percent. The acidity is as high as you’ll find in California, a stunning 9.0 grams per liter. If numbers don’t do it for you, consider that this wine is dense, sweet, apricot-y, oily-thick and utterly, lip-smackingly delicious. - Wine Enthusiast, May 2002.

Intense spiced-honey aromas with sweet, low-medium balanced acidity and intense honeyed spicy lychee fruit and a very long length. Perfection of sweet wine. - Gareth Lawrence, Wine & Spirit Education Trust, London, England.

This rich, dense gewürz offers a mouthful of sweet roses. The sugar blunts it, but the flavor will emerge with mascarpone desserts or a mild goat cheese. - Wine & Spirits Magazine, February, 2002.

1999 Vineyard Select Late Harvest Gewürztraminer

A remarkable wine, with astounding spice components from the grape, along with fresh pear and apple, but hints of clover blossom and honey from botrytis, and a succulent and yet crisp finish. Its 14% residual sugar is balanced by excellent acidity. A double-gold medal at the Mendocino judging, meaning all five judges awarded the wine a gold medal. - Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences, August 24, 2000.

Navarro consistently grows some of the best gewürz in California, holding the essential freshness of the grape even in this late harvest style. For all its floral, hot-house rose aroma, its spice and sweet figgy fruit, there's a soft acidity to lighten its touch. For all its voluptuous texture, its finish of honey and smoke, there's a prickle and a liveliness that keeps the impression refined. Pour a glass with sheep's milk cheese at the end of a meal. - Wine and Spirits, 100 Best Wines of 2001.

Best Gewürztraminer of California, 2000 California State Fair. This is what dessert wines should be-possessing great varietal character, botrytis, a luscious sweetness, and a perfectly balanced acidity. - Phil Baily, Los Angeles County Fair, 2000.

A dessert wine with a sweet honeyed nose and loads of sweet spices on the palate; very sweet apricot and peach fruit, with decent acid on the finish. - , Epicurean Magazine, November, 2000.

A bouquet of apricot, honey, and soft spice before a very rich, smooth, viscous, and very sweet palate of mostly honeyed apricot and a short to medium finish. - Colorado Wine News, January/March 2001.

Exceptional. Intense lychee nut varietal character along with fresh Gravenstein apple and fresh pears. Remarkable well-balanced, despite 14% sugar. Phenomenal wine. - Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences, August 17, 2000.