Rocky Patel Vintage 1999 Connecticut & 2007 Gewurztraminer Kabinett

The Cigar
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan Ligeros
My Strength Rating: 3.5
For a mild-medium cigar it sure has some character. Mixed in with its creamy like texture are some soft white pepper qualities and other delicate spice. The cedar notes add a nice twang on the tongue. This is an enjoyable mild-medium smoke.

The White Wine
The Gewurztraminer is produced by the Weingut Geil Winery in Germany. The color is a very watery yellow crystal clear color. The aroma is very delicate, fresh, and sweet with a hint of floral and fresh apple slices. The taste has an interesting crispness to it, it is not quit prickly, nor is it quit tingly so, I guess I’ll say it has a zippy little crispness that plays on the tongue just before a passion fruit like sweetness takes over. There is a light twang on the back of the palate during the finish. The mouthfeel has a clean oily silky texture. When you lick your teeth and gums there is a nice sweet apple aftertaste. I would have to call this a semi-sweet white wine for there is a little dryness to the body.

The more I taste this Gewurztraminer it is that light twang on the back of the palate that I keep focusing on. After a few tastes I think it reminds me of a white grapefruit twang. The more I stick my nose in the glass I sense that light floral note: honeysuckle and rose petal but, it is very light.

The Pairing
It is suggested to pair this wine with spicy Asian foods or other foods with curry. The closest cigar to a light curry like quality that I could think of that I had in my humidor was this Rocky Patel Vintage 1999. The soft white pepper and light cedar notes when mixed together could give me a light curry or ginger like quality I thought. So, I lit up the cigar and sampled the two spices while smoking the cigar – I think this could work.

During this pairing the cigar helps to bring out a nice light spicy quality in the wine. Where I called it ‘a zippy little crispness’ is where the spice comes to play during this pairing. So, the spices of each play well together. Then the cedar notes of the cigar mingle with the sweet fruits of the wine. The cigar did not bring out the slight dryness of the wine but, I think it was the sweetness that came more to the front. This is a very solid pairing.

Here is my skinny on this wine. Yes, it did pair up well with spicy food. I had a portabella mushroom, red onion, and green olive with alfredo sauce pizza. The pizza had a nice spicy taste and this wine was very refreshing with this pizza. The sweetness of the wine seemed to just take control of the flavors of the pizza. But, here is how I would enjoy this Gewurztraminer as a desert. I would open the bottle after a nice spicy type meal and light up this wonderful cigar and enjoy these two tasty treats.