Pfeiffer 2010 The Carson Gewurztraminer

There's no denying the existence of a substantial market out there for semi-sweet or off-dry white wines, but I suspect that many of us are still put off by recollections of the days when someone who turned up on your doorstep for dinner would almost invariably bearing a bottle of the old Ben Ean Moselle.

You can probably see the popularity of the Brown Brothers Crouchen Riesling  as a continuation of those days, and I can't help thinking that the failure of quality Riesling to sell in the quantities it deserves has something to do with the Crouchen Riesling mob sampling a wine from the Clare or Eden Valley and looking for sugar levels that aren't there.

At the same time if you're a Riesling drinker you may well see Crouchen or Traminer Riesling as enemy territory. Sort of east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet.

That degree of sweetness, on the other hand, definitely goes well with dishes on the spicier end of the spectrum. The key issue, at least from where I'm sitting, is getting the touch of sugar in there without veering off into lolly water.

Experience suggests that varietal Gewurztraminer or something along the lines of the Rockford White Frontignac fits the bill rather well.

Pfeiffer 2010 The Carson Gewurztraminer (4* $16.50 C2 $14.85) Mildly aromatic, musk and rose petals on the nose, there's a slight sweetness across the palate (approaching 7 g/L rather than the thirty you may find in the current wave of off dry Rieslings) and subdued varietal character in a wine that's worth considering, but what's going in the rest of the box is the key factor. Interesting drinking in the right setting without making a persuasive case for actual inclusion.