HJW in Argentina

After a long journey from the Finger Lakes to Long Island to Argentina, it was about time for Peter and me to drink the wine we made during the 2009 harvest at Hermann J. Wiemer. In October we had harvested Gewurztraminer from the HJW vineyard at Wiemer, the original and oldest planting on the property. We had separated out the botrytis-affected bunches and used only the shriveliest bunches for our wine, fermenting it and yielding just one 375mL bottle. It was ready by the end of October, so it´s been aging (and traveling) for about 3 months.

When we took it out of the fridge today we noticed the sediment in the bottle right away. When we first poured it there were some bubbles, so we worried that it had started to re-ferment. But the nose was developed and very pretty, with white flower, orange, grapefruit, and a touch of botrytis spice and minerality. On the palate it had a luscious mouthfeel, complexity, and a really good integration of sweetness, acidity, body, and alcohol. The flavor reminded me of honeyed grapefruit and the finish was crisp. It tasted very different from when we first tried it in early November; the 3 months of bottle aging definitely served it well. We were so excited by the result! We are so proud that we made a good wine. If only we had been able to make some more. Maybe next harvest...