2006 Cantina Tramin Gewürztraminer Alto Adige - Südtirol Nussbaumer

• By Ian D'Agata
  March/April 2008, IWC Issue #137, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Cantina Tramin Gewurztraminer Nussbaumer Alto Adige) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Antonio Galloni
  Exploring the Best of Northern Italy (Oct 2007), (See more on Vinous...)

  (Tramin Gewurztraminer Nussbaumer) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/31/2007, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (Tramin Nussbaumer Gewurztraminer) Nussbaumer Dear Friends, While everyone is chasing Shiraz, I give you this... I’ve been lucky enough to taste this wine twice already and I’m looking very forward to cellaring at least 6-12 bottles over the next decade. This should be a riveting wine in time and I hope all of you partake of its potential. As far as hyped vintages go, the 2006 white wine vintage in Austria, Alto Adige and Friuli is about as eagerly anticipated as can exist in these normally reserved regions - they are used to taking a backseat to Germany and Alsace but not anymore. If you have the patience to cellar some of the better wines from the above mentioned areas, they may last 20+ years - I’m serious. Lauded by many critics around the world (IWC, Wine Spectator, et al) and fresh off another Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri (this wine has won 6 or 7 Tre Bicchieri’s, if I recall), the Nussbaumer is the Alto Adige equivalent of Prager or even Willie Schaeffer. Perhaps the most prestigious honor this wine has won was inclusion in Gambero Rosso’s “50 wines that changed our world” - a list of what they consider to be the finest wines produced. Here is their review from that inclusion: "The best Gewurztraminer from Alto Adige is made by the cooperative winery of the zone, under the magic hand of Willi Sturz, kellermeister and talented taster. It has the classic spicy fragrances of roses with notes of cloves. If you let it age, it gets even better, losing even the slight sweetness it has when young and showing its true quality." And all of the above comments were for good vintages, but they are not 2006. What sets this wine apart is its cool and reserved personality - it is not a massive, in your face Gewurztraminer and the aromatics are more in line with Riesling than the overtly floral and sweet tones that many associate with Gewurztraminer. The Nussbaumer is an individual wine and all the better for it: If you buy the best white wine in the world, this wine is a departure form the norm and it has an excellent record for bringing complexity down the road. While beautiful to drink now, I urge you to stash a few bottles away to see if it can match the 1986 Weinbach Gewurztraminer I had the other night - a wow experience. Sometimes waiting all these years is worth it. an outstanding example - only 50 cases coming to the US and most of it usually goes to high-end restaurants in NY (which leaves around 15 cases for the entire US retail market - that’s what I would call EXTREMELY LIMITED) VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for rainbow-like clarity from a high altitude wonderland that had one of the best best vintages in a generation. ONE SHIPMENT ONLY directly from the source at about the same price as in Italy with perfect provenance: 2006 Cantine Tramin “Nussbaumer” Gewurztraminer Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Italy7690