Mélanie Pfister Lenz Gewurztraminer 2024

This wine comes from a plot called Lenzerstuecker, which means the ‘plot of spring’. Which is the perfect name for this kind of wine - because it’s a floral, light and joyful style of Gewürz. Mélanie usually crafts a slightly sweeter style of wine from this plot, but 2024 was a drier and cooler vintage, so the grapes came in with less sweetness than usual. So you get more of that crisp, clean lift that makes you want to go straight back for that next sip! She also picks earlier than her neighbours. It’s a technique learned from her father, which is to taste the grapes every single day in the run-up to harvest. They’re tasty… but not quite tasty enough. Then one day they’re just right, and they’re picked immediately and brought in. She then keeps the winemaking deliberately simple to facilitate this delicious fruit through to your glass. Which means a long, whole-cluster press to retain the aromatics, and then fermentation and lees ageing in stainless steel to maintain freshness and build texture and complexity. Members have been asking me to find a great Gewürztraminer for years. This is the first one I found that I’d happily drink myself - so it passes the test!