Gewürztraminer’s is an affordable white wine with floral charm

Gewürztraminer is an underappreciated wine grape known best for making lightweight white wines that are off-dry, or lightly sweet, and taste like a mash-up of moscato and pinot grigio. More complex versions balance weight and texture with high acidity and honeyed depth.

The vine traces its roots to the South Tyrol region of the southern Alps and is grown throughout many of the German-speaking regions of Europe. Its tongue-twisting name means “spicy one from Tramin,” referencing the German-language name of the northern Italian city of Termeno. In wine terms, spicy refers to intense flavors — gewürztraminer features an uncommonly powerful floral scent that could double as perfume.

When fully ripened, as it typically is in France, Italy, and Austria, gewürztraminer makes stronger, richer, and drier wines that can be as full-bodied as chardonnay. In the Americas, gewürztraminer more often takes after the lighter, brighter, and sweeter version popular in Germany. That’s precisely what you’ll find under the cork on this example from Washington. The wine is brimming with flavors of hyper-ripe peaches and candied orange peel with a lingering floral finish reminiscent of tropical lychee. The wine is delicious on its own, and is particularly refreshing with a few ice cubes in hot weather. But it also makes a surprisingly apt food partner for intensely seasoned dishes, ranging from the sausages and sauerkraut of its Alpine heritage to the spice-driven dishes of South Asian cuisine.

$9.49 12.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #8065

Sale price through 8/29 — regularly 10.99

Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington — $9.87, krestonwines.com/;

Canal’s in Mount Ephraim— $9.99, mycanals.com/;

Total Wine & More in Wilmington and Claymont, Del. — $10.97, www.totalwine.com/.