Professors at UC Davis have classified wine grape varieties into five categories, all based on when they ripen—from eagerly early to fashionably late in the season. Their "degree days method" involves tallying up the average daily high temperatures above 50°F from April 1 to October 31. Gewürztraminer is the early bird in the vineyard world and thrives best when the season is cool and the cumulative count for degree days remains below 2,500. To keep these delicate darlings comfortable, we play Mother Nature by tinkering with our trellises to give this variety more shade and elevation and even sprinkling vines during scorching heat. Despite our efforts, it seems even the best-laid plans can't outwit a warming planet.
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Harvesting West Hill Gewürztraminer, 2023. This section, the top of the field, was replanted 20 years ago with the most flavorful clone, ENTAV 47, grafted onto 101-14 rootstock; the combination of well-drained soil with mature, top-quality vines in a cool, near-perfect vintage yielded an exceptional wine.
We were excited to see the grapes' deep russet skins which are associated with very flavorful fruit and high levels of aromatic terpenes.
Gewürz harvests are now staging their own version of a speed run, making it tricky to preserve the variety's signature spicy flavors. In a stroke of luck, our 2023 harvest conditions came to the rescue; the cooler weather delayed the ripening process just enough to let those flavors truly blossom. Nowhere was this serendipity more apparent than atop West Hill, where ocean breezes keep temperatures in check. Come harvest time, pickers entered the vineyard under the cloak of night, ushering those precious grapes into the winery before sunrise—a cold soak, a cool fermentation in French oak ovals and a leisurely seven-month lie-down
sur lie. The result? A wine that brims with vibrancy and teases the senses with the delicate scent of orange blossoms and jasmine, while treating the palate to a symphony of tropical-citrus flavors. Hats off to Navarro's nocturnal harvest crew.
Gold Medal winner.
