Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Spring Gala Wine Celebration at the German Embassy Washington Jointly Hosted by the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter, President: Carl Willner, Vice-President: Christian Schiller) and the International Club of DC








Spring Gala Wine Celebration at the German Embassy Washington Jointly Hosted by the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter, President: Carl Willner, Vice-President: Christian Schiller) and the International Club of DC.

Invitation

It is a pleasure to announce that we have once again been invited to hold a spring event  at the German Embassy!  The German Wine Society’s Capital Chapter  has held several asparagus-themed Spargelfest dinners at the Embassy, but this’s year’s Spring Gala event will offer something more, combining festive music with the pleasures of wine and food.  We are collaborating this year with the International Club of DC to host this event, and so it is possible to register for the event through either organization at the same price.  And this year, we are offering not only a dinner including white asparagus and with several German wines at the Embassy House, but also a reception and concert in the Carl Schurz Hall of the main Embassy building before dinner, with a selection of hors d’oeuvres and German sparkling, white and red wines.  Guests will have the opportunity to attend just the reception, or the reception and dinner.  For both the reception and dinner, cuisine will be provided by the German Embassy’s chef, Mikko Kosenen of Mikko Nordic Fine Foods.  Chef Mikko also operates a restaurant in Washington, D.C., and was formerly executive chef for the Ambassador of Finland.  Please plan to join us to share our love of German wine paired with white asparagus and other dishes, at the German Embassy where the German Wine Society began – and this year, to enjoy beautiful music and song at the start of our unique event, and to meet members of the International Club as well as those from our own Society!

Please join our two groups at the German Embassy on the evening of Friday, May 29, 2026, from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm....

We anticipate being joined by members of the German Embassy staff, some of whom will provide introductory remarks at the reception.  Please take the opportunity to mingle with them and share your interests in German wines and Germany!...

Carl Willner
President and Secretary, GWS Capital Chapter

The Wines

Nv Dr. Loosen “Dr. L” Sparkling Riesling, Mosel.  In Germany, sparkling wine is known as “sekt,” and the Loosen estate produces this distinctive dry sekt using the Charmat method, with a specific grape and region rather than a generic blend.  Rated 91 points by Wine Enthusiast.

2023 Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett, Rheingau.  The Rheingau region has long been identified with high-quality Rieslings, and this Kabinett, at the lower end of the scale of sweet wines, provides an off-dry or mildly sweet experience.  Rated 92 points by Wine Spectator and Antonio Galloni.

2023 Kühling Gillot Spätburgunder Trocken, Rheinhessen.  The Spätburgunder grape is better known outside Germany as Pinot Noir, and this is a fine example of a dry red from a leading estate.   90 points average critic reviews.

2023 Hexamer Helmut Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Rieslling Quarzit, Nahe.   A fine example of a barely off-dry Riesling from the Nahe region west of the Rhine, across from the Rheingau.  Critic James Suckling rated the previous vintage 92 points.

2022 Rebholz Weissburgunder Trocken, Pfalz.  The Rebholz estate in the Pfalz region is one of Germany’s top producers of dry “Trocken” wines, in this case made from the Weissburgunder grape better known outside Germany as Pinot Blanc.  Reviewed at 92 points by critic James Suckling.  

2022 Meyer-Näkel Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) Estate, Ahr.  The small Ahr region near Bonn is more heavily focused on producing red wines, especially Spätburgunder, than any other wine region of Germany, with distinctive slate tastes.   The Meyer-Näkel estate represents the 5th generation of winemakers.  Critics have reviewed at 91 points. 

2024 Carl Loewen Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett, Mosel. Grown from vines over 120 years old in Devonian slate soil, and fermented in traditional wooden barrels (fuder).  Rated 94 points by critic James Suckling.

2023 Wirsching-Iphöfer Silvaner Trocken, Franken.  A dry Silvaner white wine, served in the fat “bocksbeutel” characteristic of the Franken region, is the classic accompaniment to a spargel (asparagus) dinner.  Rated 90 points by Kristen Bieler, Wine Spectator.  

2023 Fritz Haag Braunberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese, Mosel.   Spätlese wines are the next step up the sweetness scale in Germany from Kabinett, the term translating as “late harvest.”  From the Sonnenuhr (“sundial”) vineyard., one of the iconic steep-sided vineyards lining the banks of the Mosel river.  Rated 92 points in Wine Enthusiast.

2023 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese, Mosel.  The Mosel region, source of both dessert wines for this event, is one of Germany’s leading regions for the Riesling grape, and exports far more wines to the United States than any other single German wine region.  From the Würzgarten (“spice garden”) vineyard in Ürzig.  Rated 94 points by Master of Wine Anne Krebiehl, Vinous Media.  

Asparagus Season (Spargelzeit) in Germany

Spring in Washington announces itself with cherry blossoms, migrating songbirds, and tasty ramps at farmers’ markets.  In Germany, nothing epitomizes Spring like the revered white stalks of Spargel (asparagus)!  The green variety is more popular in North America and tends to be available in supermarkets year-round.  Germans, however, prefer the white variety that is harvested from mid-April to near the end of June (St. John’s Day), and often is harder to find in the United States.  The Germans have given this harvest season its own name – Spargelzeit – and celebrate it with passion.   

Rich in nutrients and very low in calories, asparagus has become a culinary status symbol for many Germans.  To produce white asparagus, soil is piled up into knee-high banks, which give the fields their characteristic appearance.  White asparagus grows entirely surrounded by earth, which protects the slender stalks from sunlight exposure and keeps them from turning green.  This also affects the subtle flavor of it.  The popular vegetable is cultivated in almost all federal states as well as in neighboring countries.  In fact, Germans consume more white asparagus than their country produces, so it is necessary to import it.

Welcoming Hors d’ oeuvres 

Pretzel bites with beer- cheese dipping sauce

German bratwurst pig in blanket with mustard

Asparagus-cheese quiche

Herring on potato with mustard mayonnaise

Duck confit arancinis with cherry sauce

These hors d’oeuvres will be accompanied by the following wine:

Buffet  Dinner 

Assortment of bread

Green salad with lingonberry dressing

German style potato salad

Pasta Salmon salad

Grilled white asparagus with hollandaise sauce

Roasted spring vegetables

Chicken Schnitzel with lemon and capers

Black forest ham 

Spaetzle with mushrooms, ham

       Sweets:

 Apple strudel with vanilla sauce

 Black forest cake

 Rice porridge with red berry soup

President Carl Willner's Report

...We enjoyed a beautiful late spring evening, after the past couple of weeks of rain - a cloudless sky and not too hot or chilly. A patio reception took place from 5:30 pm to 7 pm, followed by a buffet dinner indoors fro 7 pn to 9 pm.   The GWS had 38 paid guests signed up for the event, plus two comped (myself and my wife Nina), and all of those came.  There were 27 paid members, all at the original price of $195, and 11 paid mon-members, all at the original price of $205, plus the two member comps.  Most of the Board attended, including, besides myself, both of the Schillers, Karen Stokes and Maria So.   There were also 34 International Club guests signed up and paid, and all of those will be credited in the division of expenses between us and the International Club, which is now based on the paid guest ratio.  Four of the International Cub guests did not show up, and so the International Club president was also able to attend the dinner without going over the maximum capacity of 75, along with some Embassy officials and staff.  Jean Froehly, Minister and head of the Economic and Finance Department, spoke at the opening reception, as did the newly arrived Minister Counselor for Agriculture, Peter Poete, who unlike Froehly also stayed for the dinner.  We also invited Sarah Huth, Second Secretary, and her assistant Ann-Katrin Juergensen, both of whom helped with the event, to join us.  

...As part of the reception, Jean Froehly presented me and the International Club prudent Sanjaya Hettihewa with the Embassy’s von Steuben medallions, showing the Prussian officer who became an American General in the Revolution on one side ,and a 250 on the other for America’s semiquincentennnial, a very pleasant memento of the long German-American relationship.  

Arriving




Reception











Dinner
















Bye-bye




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