Sundowner Season Opened in McLean, Northern Virginia, March 2023

Annette and I had our first sundowner of 2023 on our front deck in McLean, Northern Virginia (in the Greater Washington Dc area).

We started with saucisson sec and a Champagne Vignobles Gonet-Médeville premier cru brut on the front deck, followed by Virginia oysters on the half-shell and seafood pasta, with an 2014 - almost 10 years old - ultra-premium German bone-dry Riesling GG Grand Cru Grosses Gewächs Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt from the Mosel.

We finished the evening with some jazz and a red wine from Austria: 2019 Weingut Jalits, Blaufraenkisch, Burgenland.

Champagne Vignobles Gonet-Médeville Premier Cru Brut

We started with saucisson sec and a Champagne Vignobles Gonet-Médeville premier cru brut on the front deck.

Oysters on the Half-shell

We continued in the kitchen, Annette preparing the seafood pasta and I chucking and eating 12 oysters from Virginia. 

Seafood Pasta with Mussels and Scallops

2014 Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, GG, Grosses Gewächs, Riesling

For 3 decades, until her intimely death in 2016, the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Estate was owned and run by Annegret Reh-Gartner. During the 2014 Germany tour by Ombiasy Public Relations and Wine Tours - 2 years before her death - we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the caste with her and her husband Gerhard.

Gerhard Gartner died 3 years after her. He was a key figure of the so called nouvelle cuisine movement in Germany and cooked at the Gala in Aachen from 1978 to 1992, for more than 10 years at the 2-star Michelin level.

Nouvelle cuisine is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased emphasis on presentation. It was popularized in the 1960s by the food critic Henri Gault, who invented the phrase, and his colleagues André Gayot and Christian Millau in a new restaurant guide, the Gault-Millau.

See. Lunch and Wine Tasting at Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt in Morscheid, Mosel with Owner Annegret Reh-Gartner – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014) http://schiller-wine.blogspot.com/2015/04/lunch-and-wine-tasting-at-weingut.html 

Pictures: Wine Tasting at Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt in Morscheid

After-dinner Jazz

Erroll Garner in Carmel, California, in 1956 and Weingut Jalits Blaufraenkisch, Burgenland, Austria, 2019.

Wine & Culture Tour to Austria: May 28 - June 08, 2023 

We will visit Weingut Jalits on the forthcoming ombiasy WineTour to Austria and will have lunch there. 

See: A not-to-be-missed Wine & Culture Tour to Austria: May 28 - June 08, 2023 http://schiller-wine.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-not-to-be-missed-wine-culture-tour-to.html 

Annette and I went on a pre-tour to Austria earlier this year in January.

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