St Julian Summer Whites (6)

St Julian Summer Whites 6-Pack
$59.99 $103.00 42% off List Price
2013 Braganini Reserve Traminette
2011 St. Julian Reserve Late Harvest Riesling
CT link above

Winery website

Traminette is a popular wine in the midwest because of the grapes’ cold hardiness. I’ve tried Traminette from Ohio, New York, Virginia and Missouri. The state of Indiana has a burgeoning wine scene and has declared Traminette as its “signature wine”. I’m sure Michigan does a nice job with this grape as well.

As the product details note, Traminette is similar to Gewurz. To me, the biggest difference is that it’s less spicy and usually (but not always) a little sweeter. Although I like that spicy, acidic bite on the finish of a good Gewurz, I also enjoy the more fruit-based flavor profile of Traminette.

Winemaker here! I’ll be on periodically throughout the day to answer questions! Both wines are Gold medal winners! The Traminette is a new label for us - the wine has been entered in 4 wine competitions and received 4 gold medals…including the Riverside International Wine Competition!

The Late Harvest Riesling is a consistent Gild medal winner as well winning the Best Sweet Riesling at the Riverside International Wine Competition!

A sneaky ninja monkey stashed a bottle of the 2013 Braganini Reserve Traminette in Klezman’s bag while he wasn’t looking, so what else could we do but pop it open?

Those sneaky monkeys seem to know my taste in wine, because this hit the spot for me. On the nose, I am first reminded of moscato with a little extra oomph. Very bright and juicy, with tropical fruit, peach, and some lychee thrown in there for good measure. Just like moscato, I could swirl and smell this all afternoon.

On the palate, it’s fruit and acid. This being my first Traminette, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It has the features I love about Gewurtztraminer, without the extra bite. The focus is all fruit: lemon, peach, and pear are the standouts, with some notes of pineapple in the mix. The finish is nice and long, and settles into the mango notes the longer it goes.

We paired this with thai curry, and it was a nice accompaniment. It would also pair nicely with something light and citrusy, and drinks well on its own.

I tend to like the sweeter side of the sugar/acid balance, and found this wine to be on the more acidic end of preferable, while Klez predictably thinks it could use more acid. For me, this is an especially temping woot offering since I’m also a fan of rieslings…

On the whole, this is an easy-drinking, somewhat sweet but still bright, fruity white. It’s not particularly complex, but it delivers a nicely balanced profile and enough body to stand up to lighter food.

Last wooter to woot: chipgreen

I already have a couple bottles of the LH Riesling from a previous St. Julian offer. Willing to split this 2 Traminette and 1 Riesling for me, 2 Riesling and 1 Traminette for whomever (or I will take all 3 Traminette if preferred). Ohioans? New Yorkers? Anyone going on the RPM tour? I can bring them with me to CA in August.

Hoping someone can comment on the drinking window for these? Appreciate any thoughts.

To follow up on molarchae’s notes, I just poured the rest of the bottle that’s now had a few days of being re-capped in the fridge (no Ar or N2). It’s actually feeling more acidic than it did earlier this week, probably because it’s colder. The flavour profile is about what I remember, but with a longer finish. I prefer the spiciness of a cool climate Gewurtztraminer, but this is a nice and tasty wine.

these sound like nice summer sippers… might have to try…

Info post:
All tasting notes for this wine have been cross posted into CT under user name wine.woot_taster. User names have been removed to protect the guilty. PM me if you want your tasting note removed or user name added back.

Thanks and back to the wine