Lot 28 Notes

🏷️ Lot Overview

Region: Anderson Valley (Mendocino County)
Vintage: 2023
Blend: 100% GewĂĽrztraminer (Dry)
ChatGPT Original Source Guess: Navarro Vineyards (Alt: Handley Cellars or Husch Vineyards)
Wine Berserkers Guess: Navarro
Alcohol: 13.5%
Oak Aging: None (fermented and aged in large foudres)
Residual Sugar: 2.0 g/L (bone-dry)
Cam Price: $99/case ($8.25/bottle)
Retail Estimate: $25–$30
Drink Window: 2024–2027

🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes

Email
Funny thing — winemaker Katie had been pushing Cam to buy this wine since last spring. He loved it, but wondered how to sell a couple hundred cases of dry Gewürztraminer. When the producer later offered a price he couldn’t refuse, he caved.

Sourced from the benchmark GewĂĽrztraminer producer in California (a winery often compared to Alsace or Alto Adige greats), this is the same wine the producer bottles for $25+.

Bone-dry, lively, and crystalline, it shows harmonious fruit energized by fresh acidity. Perfect with spicy food, Asian cuisine, or even Thanksgiving dinner.

Website/Tasting Notes
Pale straw-gold in the glass with a wonderfully aromatic bouquet of honeysuckle blossom, ripe peach, and citrus/mineral lift. With air, beeswax, acacia honey, and vetiver halo the nose, joined by quince, apple skin, and nectarine.

Supple and juicy on entry, with chalky acidity driving peach, nectarine, and subtle beeswax. Zesty, pure, and mouthwatering through a long, crystalline finish.

100% Anderson Valley GewĂĽrztraminer
Night-harvested, cold-pressed, and aged in large foudres
2.0 g/L RS (dry)
13.5% alc.
300 cases produced

🧠 ChatGPT says:
🔍 Source Guess: Navarro Vineyards (Alt: Handley Cellars or Husch Vineyards)

🎯 Rationale:

  • Benchmark Producer: Cam calls the source “perennially one of California’s best Dry GewĂĽrztraminer producers” — Navarro is widely recognized as the flagship GewĂĽrztraminer producer in Anderson Valley. Their dry version is iconic and consistently acclaimed.
  • Price Match: Navarro’s Dry GewĂĽrztraminer retails around $25 — exactly the retail Cam cites.
  • Style Alignment: Navarro’s hallmark is bone-dry, aromatic, mineral-driven GewĂĽrztraminer with Alsatian inspiration. The tasting descriptors (honeysuckle, peach, beeswax, chalk) line up perfectly with Navarro’s classic profile.
  • Volume: 300 cases fits the scale of a single offloaded bottling lot. Navarro is large enough to part with finished wine, unlike micro-producers.

🧭 Alternatives:

  • Handley Cellars: Also produces an Anderson Valley GewĂĽrztraminer, but their bottlings are often semi-dry, not bone-dry. Less exact match.
  • Husch Vineyards: Historic AV producer, but GewĂĽrz is not their flagship; style tends to lean off-dry.

âś… Final Call: Navarro Vineyards is the strongest candidate here, with style, pricing, and reputation all in perfect alignment.

⏳ Drink Window
Early Enjoyment: Summer 2024–2025 — fresh, zesty, aromatic perfection right after bottling.
Peak Drinking: 2025–2026, when fruit, floral, and mineral elements are at their most vibrant.
Hold Potential: Up to 2027 for a more honeyed, spicy evolution, though best young.
My Call: ⏳ 2024–2027 (peak 2025–2026)

🧑‍🤝‍🧑🍷 Wine Berserker Community Guess: Navarro

 

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