WineLovers Discussion Group

I was in the mood for something sweet and yummy, and this wine fit the bill. 12% alcohol, deep golden color, aroma of apricots and honey which speaks of botrytis, it is flavorful, with flavors that run to orange honey and a hint of almonds. Good acidity, and a nice long candied finish. I don't know that I'll ever find tba for $3.99 again (this was a closeout), and this was my last bottle, but I'm happy to have tried it. I'm not sure what grapes were used in this "Tradition" bottling, but it is delicious in any case. AP Nr. 4 252 245 2 94. Jim's rating: Yummy! By the way, the Guntrum estate seems to be changing. Their website (I googled Louis Guntrum) is quite interesting. The estate is in Nierstein in the Rheinhessen. Jim

Jim:

Not totally sure about the "Tradition" designation, but in the past when Guntrum has used that (and when there's not an accompanying designation of variety on the label) it was to signifiy that only the 'traditional grapes' are used...and are almost certainly blended.

What that means is the bottle you had could have been made from any blend of Riesling, Sylvaner, and Kerner...and there's probably a good deal of Sylvaner and Kerner, I'm guessing.

But that's just an educated guess (or WAG, really), based on the fact that I've had some Gunrtrum Sylvaner sweetie-pies before, and partly on the knowledge that a lot of the sweet wine makers have been playing around with Kerner since the 1970s, especially in the Rheinhessen and the Pfalz, because it makes big, fat, glossy sweet wines pretty well.

Guntrum for a goodly while has been trying to simplify the labelling miasma for non-German drinkers (and a few younger German drinkers, for that matter), to make their wines more approachable and sellable. Unfortunately, for such an old estate family, they've also been engaged in dumbing down a lot of their wines too. But they have some tremendous vineyards on the slopes of the Rhine, and make some killer Riesling wines, labeled as Nierstein and Oppenheim. They are on a gorgeous (both scenically and viticulturally) place called the Rhein-Terasse.

Good place for wines, castle viewing, boat tours, and essen und trinken mit geschmackt!

Hoke, I too guessed that this was a blend, especially with their website talking about Kerner (and other grapes) as well as their Riesling. I hope to travel that Rhine route someday, but in the meanwhile will just have to settle for the wines! Thanks for the interesting guesses, and your sharing of knowledge about the winery. All the best, jim