Sutter Home is one of those wines that the grocery store stacks 9 cases in some random spot and cuts the top boxes open and places bottles outside with a sign that reads $4.99. Their website claims that they invented the white zin. As far as cheap table wine I have not been turned off. I think there are better moscatos at that price point and I rarely pick up any of SH products. Until the other day.
It was the name, Gewurztraminer, that caught my eye. Being the cheap wine wino that I am I did not recognize the meaning of the name. I assumed in correctly that gewurztraminer was funky German word for tasty white wine. Wrongo boyo. It is the name of the grape originating in Alsace (France). Education. Considered as a "love it or hate it" grape it with aromas of rose petals, lychee fruit, grapefruit, peaches, smoked meat and Allspice it deceived me into thinking it was a sweet wine. Wrong again, it is almost a dry wine and is thought to best be served with fatty foods and pork or exotic North African, Indian and Far Eastern dishes. I drank it without food and after Mary took a sip, alone.
Deceptive. It smells sweet. Fruity aroma. Taste buds await in anticipation. Nice light golden hue. I waited a day and had it chilled. At first it rolled sweetly over my tongue and then a dryness set in. Sutter Home rates it as a medium sweet leaning toward dry. Then the backlash of the other flavors arrives. A somewhat nasty spiciness not unlike an extremely weak Jagermeister shot. That must be the "hint" of Allspice. despite the light appearance it feels a bit heavy on the tongue. I can even feel it go beyond the roof of my mouth into my nose. Then again it is 13.0% alcohol. The burn.
It's taken a week to kill this bottle. But I do admit that I am enjoying the last glass now. Must be my ghetto decanting method. Pour one glass and put the bottle back in the fridge for a day or two. I almost wish I had another bottle.
Sutter Home's Advert
Would I buy it again? Maybe. Another brand, yes, just to compare. Maybe another SH and do a proper decanting and chilling. But if I was in the mood for a sweet white I'd get a Riesling or a Pinot Grigio, better yet a beloved Moscato. However, I do believe that the flavor elements and the inherent dryness of Gewurztraminer would make and excellent wine to pour into the water basin of my smoker. This I definitely will do for Thanksgiving.
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