Apricot, lychee and a bitter orange finish
Burnt orange in the glass. Apricot, peach and fresh lychee, with orange peel, ginger and a light floral note. Fleshy in the mouth but dry, with bright acidity, fine tannins and a long, pleasantly bitter finish, a little like Campari.
- apricot
- lychee
- orange peel
- ginger
- Body
- full
- Acidity
- bright
- Grip
- fine
- Fruit
- stone fruit
100% Gewürztraminer
Gewürztraminer smells like a florist's shop: roses, lychee, spice. Made the usual way it is often soft and a little sweet, which is why many people think they don't like it.
Left on its skins like a red wine, it changes. The skins add tannin and a pleasant bitterness, the wine finishes dry, and all that perfume becomes something you can drink with dinner.
Two to three weeks on the skins
- Grown organicallyClay and limestone parcels around Rosheim
- Whole bunchesFermented with the yeasts that live on the grapes
- Weeks on the skinsWhere the amber colour and the grip come from
- 9 months in steelStainless steel tank, no oak taste
- Bottled as it isNo fining, no filtering
Sophie Kumpf and Julien Albertus
Sophie Kumpf and Philippe Meyer, both children of Alsace winegrowers, put their family vines together in Rosheim in 1997. Philippe later left. In 2010 Julien Albertus arrived, moved the vineyards to organic farming and started making the wines naturally. He knew at eight that he wanted to grow wine, then worked four years at Domaine de la Mordorée in Tavel and at Domaine Zusslin in Alsace, where he fell for natural wine.
Today Sophie and Julien farm about 15 hectares split into 70 small parcels across five villages, on clay and limestone at the foot of the Vosges. Grass grows between the rows, there are no chemical sprays or fertilisers, and in the cellar it is wild yeasts, no fining, no filtering and very little sulphur, often none.
How to serve and pair it
Some pairing ideas
- Tuna tartare with lycheeThe importer's pick, lychee in the wine and on the plate
- Teriyaki salmonSweet and salty glaze against a dry, bitter finish
- Baked red snapper with garlic and herbsFleshy fish for a fleshy orange wine
- Munster cheeseThe Alsace classic for Gewürztraminer, even better dry
If you like this one, try...
Würzer, a grape in Marto's Weiss, is a child of Gewürztraminer. The same perfume, with less grip.
Another Alsace orange wine guided by Julien Albertus, from a field blend instead of a single grape.
Muscat on its skins from Portugal. Another very aromatic grape, made dry.
More from Kumpf & Meyer
Producer: SCEA Domaine Kumpf et Meyer, 34 route de Rosenwiller, 67560 Rosheim, France