Castoro Paso Robles Gewürztraminer 6-Pack
$64.99 $115.00 43% off List Price
2010 Gewürztraminer, Paso Robles
CT link above
2010 Castoro Cellars Gewürztraminer, Hog Heaven Vineyard, Central Coast
Arrived just in time for a quick chill for consumption with Rosemary Grilled Salmon, Steamed Broccoli with sautéed with mushrooms, Miso soup, steamed rice and a Spring mix salad with those mini tomatoes, Feta, and shrimp.
Clear medium straw in appearance, well chilled (43F) and lacking much aroma, the initial impressions were of an off-dry to slightly sweet melon, nicely tart of tropical fruit and apple, but still with a surprisingly round mid palate and medium short finish Gewurz that paired well for the two of us with all but the salad at the end, as might be expected.
Revisiting this a bit later with three additional tasters, and warmer (52F) we find it’s evolved and less suited for sipping. All agreed on the general profile above but now some were picking up a bit of something like walnut shell mid palate and the finish is decidedly bitter for all. This is certainly one to serve well chilled with lighter foods.
Seeing the price now of ~$11/btl, this drinks close to it’s Woot price.
11/2/2013
The first glass of this was enjoyed with a dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches (gruyere and shallots) and a cream of tomato soup.
Color is a light muted yellow, the nose is muted right of the refrigerator but I got a hint of apple and a bit of pear and maybe some peach. A little bit of noticeable sweetness.
The palate is consistent with the nose its light/medium bodied, I think the sugar that is present gives it a slighlty heavier mouth feel than if it were dry. On the entry there is a bit of sweetness but as the wine warms it dissipates. Also as the wine warmed, a bit of spicieness came through and a touch of bitterness. The acid was fine for food as it went unnoticed through the meal. It didn’t appear flabby or too acidic.
2 hours later, sitting around the fire table we found that this wine had somewhat fallen apart. My 2nd glass from the bottle still in the fridge was without food and was predominately green apple, the wine seemed flabby and flavored almost like apple juice. There was also a noticeable tang in the finish that made it even more unpleasant. I almost stopped drinking it but instead decided to let it warm up. As it warmed up the wine lost the apple juice flavor and took on more of a grapey flavor that was enjoyable.
If I had had only the first glass it would have been an absolute buy but the 2nd glass killed it for me and it’s now a pass. I think the wine is good but not showing it’s age well the longer it sits open.
2010 Castoro Cellars Paso Robles Gewurtztraminer
A bottle of this fell off the truck at time2testit’s house last weekend and it was the first wine I tasted at his gathering Saturday night (after sipping delightful Chardonnay elsewhere). Temperature was probably slightly warmer than ideal, but not by much. Didn’t have a thermometer to actually test it.
Colour: very yellow, like a deep straw, if that makes sense.
Nose: lychee, melon, and clove (although on reading the notes here, maybe this was “ginger”)
Palate: slightly off-dry in perception but with enough acid to balance it out. Now that I see the stats, the .75% RS makes perfect sense, although I’d have expected more acidity from the 2.5 pH. Flavours were lemon, melon, and a slightly spicy finish. There was also a grassy quality that seemed much closer to a NZ Sauv Blanc than a Gewurtztraminer. The mouthfeel was very round, rather than light yet intense.
Finish: my only note is that it’s “strange” but I couldn’t place it any more precisely than that. Sorry folks.
Overall, this is not the Gewurtztraminer for me. I prefer a bright, spicy, lychee-ish Gewurtz that will match perfectly with pad Thai or curry. To me, this wasn’t quite it - the dry ideal is pretty close to the Pacific Wine Works Gewurtz. The roundness and fleshy palate threw me for a loop. If you don’t have preconceived notions of what a Gewurtztraminer should be (basically it amount to a cool-climate wine for me) then this is a solid wine, especially at $11.50+tax delivered.
I would buy this just to be able to use the word Gewürztraminer in a sentence.
I was introduced to this wine on Saturday with a group of fellow Wine Wooters. We enjoyed it with our appetizers. I felt it paired nicely with my cheese and fruit. It is not very sweet and has a floral taste that I find appealing. I am not huge white wine fan, but I liked this one. It is a perfect summer sipper…but alas, it is fall. It is a nice wine for the price range.
I also was at the DFW area wine woot dinner last Saturday and had the opportunity to taste this wine. It was the first wine served and I suspect was still well chilled. The color was a clear, pale straw and the nose had floral notes and I picked some apple as well. There was a little sweetness that was well balanced with the crisp acidity. I haven’t had a lot of gewürztraminer but it appeared to me to be true to the varietal. I didn’t take notes on the finish but I don’t remember it being unpleasant. I would agree that this wine tastes best well chilled.
Hard to provide additional notes beyond what is written above. This was the first wine we had at dinner the other night and it went well with the appetizers. Seemed true to its varietal. Interestingly picked up some tartness while at the same time a bit of sweetness. This would make a good summer wine and the ladies in my family would like it. At this price it’s a good everyday wine.
Z
I hated this wine. I was at Time2testit’s gathering, as well. Like klezman, I can’t really tell you why, but I poured it and moved on. I really like Castoro’s SB, but this wine was just weird.
Don’t beat around the bush, tell us what you really think 
I also had the opportunity to taste this at the SoCal gathering that Sparky ducked. 
Notes (wine was slightly chilled but closer to room temperature):
C: clear like a sauv blanc
N: floral; light (somewhat muted)
T: dry finish, light, not much going on.
Verdict: not a bad wine but did nothing for me (or my wife). I noted $10 delivered would be adequate.
I’ve got a couple other Castoro’s in the cellar that need some attention, but the one I have notes on is the 2007 Castoro Cellars Pinot Noir Reserve from nearly two years ago which was consumed with Thanksgiving leftovers and served quite well. Interesting a CT note also comments on a bit of a bitter finish on the PN as well. Don’t recall that, time to pull out another one.
I would have liked to get this one. We have been searching for a good Gewerztraminer for a while.
unfortunately wine.woot.com is still having shipping issues as they won’t ship to Michigan any longer. BTW: Checked on that with another winery. It IS a WOOT problem, not a LAW problem. I checked with Michigan as well. They said as long as the winery has the license in place they can ship from a 3rd party. WOOT, Wake up and fix your issues!!!
It is a WOOT problem AND a LAW problem. You are questioning the wrong law. In this instance, Woot is not a 3rd party shipper, it is a 3rd party marketer; two completely different things.
First, thanks to WW for sending us this (and the other wines) to try. I didn’t take formal written notes, but my feelings were more in line with lost’s above. We aren’t really white wine drinkers but this one seemed ok to me. It was light and fruity with grapefruit flavors. It was nice enough and for the asking price I think it is fine if someone is looking to try something new.
Castoro cellars generally makes some good QPR wines. Many of the trader joes labeled wines are made by castoro and the low end stuff is not great but the mid-range $8-10 are generally pretty good for the price.
$8 to $10 is the mid range stuff? what the heck does the low end stuff cost??
Starts at Two (fifty) Buck Chuck and goes from there. They have a lot of $4 bottles.
2.5 buck?