Wine choice: Gewurztraminer

The best-loved Alsace white is a wine with one drawback: for most people it costs a little too much for everyday drinking.

Apart from that, however, Gewurztraminer is a wine the sight of whose label is always welcome. Its taste of lychees makes it more easily identifiable than almost any other white , yet this is not a shortcoming unless the only Gewurz you have access to is bad Gewurz, which is possible if unlikely, rather than good.

But bad Gewurz is usually a cheap version of the real thing - perhaps from eastern Europe or somewhere in the New World, though the latter source can be very pleasant in its own right and certainly worth buying for a pound or two less than than the real thing if you find one you can trust (think New Zealand).

But the real thing is really what matters, and it always comes from Alsace and will cost you £10 or more a bottle.  Even at that price it is not quite invariably delectable. It can be a bit aggressive - or, to put it another way, over-lycheed - a little too sweet (a problem that goes with Alsace wine) and lacking in the back taste that makes it the special wine it is.

That can happen, which is what prevents me from buying it as often as I would like.  But Waitrose for the moment (alas a very brief moment) has reduced its standard and excellent Gewurztraminer from £9.99 to £7.99, at which price you can buy the 2015 vintage for a week or two. Produced by the reliable Cave de Turckheim, it is an enjoyably floral springtime drink, not over-assertive, a delight to sip before dinner and a joy with something lightly spicy to eat.

Though many people like to drink Gewurztraminer with a Chinese meal, make sure that it is a good Chinese meal and not a humdrum takeaway. Waitrose do other Gewurztraminers also, at prices up to £14.99. If you are feeling flush, try one of these. But this one does very nicely, so drink it at its currently inviting price while you can.
3 May 2016