We are in the season of Oktoberfest, so I think some German wine is in order this week! If you’re not familiar, Oktoberfest is the world’s largest beer festival held annually in Munich, Germany since 1810. If you can’t make it to Germany, Ontario’s own Kitchener-Waterloo hosts Canada’s largest Oktoberfest. And if you don’t like beer, than German wine is your best bet to celebrate!
Gewürztraminer and Riesling are two of the largest wine varietals from Germany, and liking cool-climates these wines grow well in Ontario. Fourth generation wine-maker, Herbert Konzelmann, recognized this and moved his families wine roots to the new world in 1984. Konzelmann’ s lakefront Niagara winery became a great spot to grow these aromatic German wines. The 2016 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer and the 2017 Riesling are the perfect wines to drink this week if you want to celebrate German culture, but are not so much into the Oktoberfest beer.
The Konzelmann Gewürztraminer Late Harvest is not available at the LCBO, but it’s worth the drive to the winery! This wine has won multiple awards, including the mist recent 2017 gold medal at the Ontario Wine Awards. It’s your typical aromatic (lots of strong aromas and flavours) sweet Gewürztraminer, but with the presence of some acidity (cuts the sweetness and makes for a great wine to pair with food). You get flavours of peach, lychee, honey, ginger and white florals. Quite the flavour bouquet! I drank the Konzelmann Gewürztraminer Late Harvest with turkey dinner for a great pairing, but in the theme of Oktoberfest I think this would work really well with pretzels and spicy Dijon.
Like Gewürztraminer, Riesling also originates in Germany and is typically an aromatic type of wine. It can range from sweet to dry but is always high in acidity. The Konzelmann Riesling is of the dry style with refreshing acidity and bright aromatics. You’re going to get a mouthful of citrus flavours with this wine! It will pair wonderfully with spicy food, like spicy German sausage. You can purchase the the Konzelmann Riesling at the LCBO or the winery store.
Cheers!~GDW
Girl Drinks Wine 