Parentage — The aromatic, pink-skinned mutation of Savagnin (Traminer)
lychee
rose
ginger
mango
sweet spice
Budbreak
Early — exposed to spring frost
Maturity
First epoch; sugars climb quickly
Leaf
Small, orbicular, three to five lobes; dark green, strongly bullate
Bunch
Small, conical, compact
Berry
Small, ovoid, pink to pale red under bloom; thick, intensely aromatic skin
The name says it plainly: Traminer, from the village of Tramin in the Alto Adige, and "Gewürz-", spiced — the perfumed, pink-skinned mutation of the ancient Savagnin family. The aromatic form was singled out and propagated in the nineteenth century, and it is Alsace that made the grape its own, planting it on the deep clays of the foothills.
Lychee, rose and ginger, a golden robe, opulent flesh, low acidity: it is one of the very few grapes whose wine a taster can identify blind at a stride. In Alsace it is grand cru and vendanges tardives material, gaining honey and smoke with noble rot; German-speaking Europe, northern Italy and the New World keep smaller, devoted plantings.
In the blend
Share of this grape in a typical blend of each wine