Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery

Walter Gehringer, who runs this winery with brother Gordon, was the first Canadian-born winemaking graduate of Germany’s Geisenheim Institute and he retains a sentimental attachment to grape varieties that were created there. One of those varieties was Schönburger, a 1979 cross whose parents include Pinot Noir, Chasselas Doré and Muscat Hamburg. At the time, Geisenheim named new grapes for Rhine castles – in this case, for Schönburg Castle.

The Gehringers have grown a small plot of Schönburger since the early 1980s. For many years, the winery released it as a varietal and hand-sold the off-dry white to loyal followers of Gehringer Germanic wines. The few others who grow the variety in the Okanagan simply blend the grapes into their Gewürztraminers. In recent vintages, Gehringer has been crafting tasty blends, noting that the varieties “truly complement each other.”

This vintage is a spice cake of a wine, starting with lovely rose petal and spice aromas. On the palate, the intensely spiced flavours include papaya and lychee. The winery describes this wine as medium-dry but it is so well balanced that the lingering finish is crisp. The dash of natural sugar serves to flesh out the texture. 88 points.

Reviewed July 15, 2007 by John Schreiner.