This was the second winery we visited on our recent tour of Sonoma in the Anderson Valley AVA. Driving in over the late afternoon hills and through the sage and oak meadows then into the adorable hamlet of Philo was welcoming and gorgeous.

Despite the set up, Navarro, while written up in Jancis Robinson’s Wine Atlas of the World as a ‘place to go’ for German varietals was one of the least stellar drop ins of the trip mostly for tasting room management, not wine reasons. We did however purchase a fabulous bottle of Pinot Noir juice (US$12) and some softly pungent goat’s milk cheese made by one of the daughters and enjoyed those almost immediately.

Nevertheless, we determined to enjoy the Gewürztraminer on Saltspring prior to steaks on Easter Sunday in the 18c weather. Life is so hard, not.

Clear and bright, pale lemon green with light legs, on the nose it’s developing and clean with intense aromas of gooseberry, guava, citrus, white stone fruit, a hit of green grass and minerality.

The palate is dry, has medium acidity, medium body and a medium plus intense flavour profile of yellow grapefruit, pomelo, pear, bergamot lime and white ginger. The finish is medium plus and slightly bitter.

It’s reasonably crisp and not flabby, balanced but with the aforementioned slightly bitter aftertaste, a ‘good’ wine. We liked that this wasn’t overly floral like most Gewürztraminers tend to be.

This gewurz was a perfect warm up act for the piece de resistance, the arrival of the Big Reds, the grande finale, the big cojones, the grand poobahs…post to follow.

Picture credit, Mike Woods Photography…