History

The name originates from Tramin, a Tyrolean village in northeast Italy where many people continue to speak German. Gewurztraminer means “spicy” Traminer, from the German gewürz, meaning spice. Traminer is recorded in Tramin from circa 1000 until the 16th century. It spread along the Rhine to Alsace via the Palatinate, where the gewürz (spice) prefix was added. Presumably, this was also when one of its legendary mutations took place. Regardless, according to history, the grape was introduced to Alsace by Duke Karl Friedrich of Baden around 1780 from Italian Chiavenna. The longer name was first used in Alsace in 1870 – without the umlaut. It is not clear what this name change from Traminer to Gewurztraminer represents, but in 1973, the name Traminer was discontinued in Alsace, except in the Heiligenstein area. Today, the French region of Alsace is unquestionably considered Gewurztraminer’s spiritual home.

California Gewürztraminer Timeline

Fred and Eleanor McCrea planted one row of Gewurztraminer high up on Spring Mountain. They were so pleased with the results that they planted one more around 1952.

Anderson Valley’s Edmeades Winery and Husch Vineyards each introduced small plantings of Gewürztraminer. In 2004, Husch further converted a four-acre Anderson Valley vineyard from Chardonnay to Gewurztraminer.

Navarro Vineyards’ Ted and Deborah Bennett planted close to 8 ha/19 acres of grapes on their estate in Philo, including Gewurztraminer vines.

Bryan Babcock plants some of the best and most heralded Gewurztraminer acreage in Santa Barbara County. The old guard of Sta. Rita Hills speaks of Babcock’s Gewurztraminers with the same awe reserved for early vintages of Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir or Au Bon Climat’s early Chardonnays. Sadly, it appears that no bottles of Babcock’s legendary Gewurztraminer from this era remain. Along with Babcock’s Riesling, the Gewurztraminer developed phylloxera in the late 1980s and had to be pulled out. When the time came to replant, Babcock took a different varietal direction.

On the Napa side of Carneros, according to the California Grape Crush Report, the Baldacci Family’s Honey B vineyard accounted for 17% of all Gewurztraminer crushed in Napa County.

Only 9.7 tons of Gewurztraminer harvested in Napa County.

Gewurztraminer plantings stood at 476.32 hectares/1,177 acres  (471.46 hectares/1,165 acres bearing and 5.26 hectares/13 acres non-bearing) through year-end 2021, representing 0.25% of total vineyard plantings of all California wine grapes.