"Oktober Weinfest" 2026 of the German Wine Society - Washington DC in Washington DC, USA, with 16 wines - still and sparkling, red and white, sweet and dry - and traditional German food.
Invitation: The German Wine Society Celebrates Oktober Weinfest on Saturday, October 17, 2026!
Dear German Wine Society Members and Friends,
Though Munich’s Oktoberfest is now ended, we are still enjoying beautiful autumn weather, and there is still time to savor delicious German wines at the German Wine Society’s Oktober Weinfest! Only five days remain to sign up for this annual celebration of German wines, accompanied by tasty German dishes, and with a German weingarten atmosphere (but held inside in case of weather surprises).
The Capital Chapter of the German Wine Society is offering sixteen different German wines this year, and all the ones we have that have been rated by the critics - nine of the total - have earned scores of 90 or higher, some as high as 96 or 97 out of a possible 100. With dry and sweet wines, whites and reds, from eight of Germany’s wine regions, this is truly a selection of German wines not to be missed!
This year we will be holding our fall harvest commemoration at the King Farm Community Center in Rockville, MD, where we have been hosting most of our New Vintage tastings in recent years and also held the Oktober Weinfest last year. We will be offering a bountiful spread of traditional German-style Binkert’s sausages, Oktoberfest treats from the Heidelberg Bakery such as pretzels and pretzel sandwiches, Oktoberfest cookies, potato salad and sauerkraut, and also homemade apple strudel.
The sixteen different German wines we will be offering represent the largest variety of wines in any of our events this year that are available to all guests (that is, no single bottles as on our summer wine cruise). They include sparkling, red, and white dry, off-dry, Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese wines, from a wide range of top producers. The eight wine regions of Germany offered (out of the thirteen total) are the Mosel, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Nahe, Ahr, Baden, Pfalz and Franken. The several German wine grapes featured will include of course Riesling, the “Queen of German grapes,” and also Scheurebe, Rivaner, Muskateller, and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir).
The price for this event is a very reasonable $89 for members, and $97 for non-members. Please plan to join us to share our love of German wine!
Registration for this event must be received by Monday, October 12, 2026.
Our “Oktober Weinfest” is being held just after the famed Munich Oktoberfest in Germany., which ran this year from September 19 through October 4. The fall harvest in Germany is not just celebrated with beer. There are also numerous wine festivals in the fall, including: the Moselfest Winningen, Germany’s oldest wine festival, from late August to early September; the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt in Bad Dürkheim, the world’s largest wine festival, in September; the German Grape Harvest Festival in Neustadt in late September and early October; the Mainzer Weinmarkt in Mainz; the Stuttgarter Weindorf in Stuttgart; and the Ingelheimer Rotweinfest from late September to early October. We hope to bring you a flavor of all these wonderful traditions!
The Oktober Weinfest event will take place on the evening of Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 6:00 pm to 9 pm, with admission beginning at 5:30 pm to the King Farm Community Center at 300 Saddle Ridge Circle, Rockville, MD 20850. Please park in the lot behind the swimming pool adjacent to the community center, and then come around to the front of the circle (not through the pool area) to enter the building. The Shady Grove Metro station on the Red Line is right across MD-355. The King Farm shuttle bus does not run on weekends, so if you are arriving by Metro, please plan on taking a cab or ride service, or walking from the station, which takes about 20-25 minutes.
The format for our event will be informal. Rather than pouring wines in a set sequence with a presentation, we will have all the wines available at wine tables, and participants can sample them in whatever sequence desired, apart from the welcoming sekt. Tasting sheets will be offered with information about the wines, and feel free to discuss the wines with the experienced GWS members manning the tables and with the other guests!
Food will be served at a buffet, and while there will be tables and chairs for all guests, there will not be any set seating; guests can arrange themselves as desired and can move around between the tables to meet with various people during the event. And while ample food will be provided, those who are interested in preparing and bringing a favorite German dish are encouraged to do so, with prior coordination with the event organizer. The cost of ingredients for such dishes can be reimbursed if receipts are provided and the organizer agrees that the dishes are appropriate.
Report by Carl Willner
On October 17, 2026 the Capital Chapter of the German Wine Society held its annual Oktober Weinfest event at the King Farm Community Center in Rockville, MD. ... Total attendance this year was only about three-quarters of last year’s 40 who registered for this event, but was enough to ensure a viable and enjoyable event. Karen and I manned the wine tables for the Weinfest, Karen taking the reds and almost all of the dry whites, while I had the sweeter wines and one drier wine from the Mosel that came from the same vineyard as another I was handling. Nina Willner once again provided her tasty strudel for dessert, and she along with her friend Anya Ryzhova and Karen also helped me with the setup and did the food preparation. Most of the food came from Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe in Northern Virginia, and the sausages from Binkert’s in the Baltimore area (requiring trips to both locations to pick up). Karen also supplied recorded German background music. The event rant until about 9 pm, and afterward several members stayed to help put everything away after the event, for which the organizer and helpers were grateful since we had to be out by 11 pm with the facility fully cleaned up, and just made it...
The Oktober Weinfest was successful from the perspective of enjoyment of our guests and the opportunity to try many very good wines, and modestly successful as a financial matter by one of our two accounting methods, though leading to a small loss by the other. I think that these results are good enough to justify continuing doing the Oktober Weinfest in this way if we want, though considering that it is a lot of work to put together ourselves and the Embassy alternative is a draw for many people though significantly more expensive, we may want to consider doing that again in the future as well.
GERMAN WINE SOCIETY OKTOBER WEINFEST WINE TASTING LIST Oct. 17, 2026
Welcome Wine - NV Dr. Loosen “Dr. L” Sparkling Riesling, Mosel – alc. 12%. Rated 91 in Wine
Enthusiast, made using Charmat method (2 nd fermentation in pressurized tank), notes of
green floral perfume, melon, peach, stone fruit, tangerine; pairs easily with various foods
Dry and Off-Dry White Wines from Nahe, Franken, Pfalz and Mosel:
2022 Emrich-Schönleber Rivaner Trocken, Nahe – alc. 11.5%. VDP. Rivaner is an alternative
name for the Müller-Thurgau grape; dry, fresh, light-bodied palate, pairs well with seafood,
light poultry, crisp vegetables and soft cheeses
2023 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Quarzit, Nahe – alc. 11%. Harald and
Petra Hexamer farm 7.5 hectares on a steep, southeast-facing slope of red sandstone with
pockets of quartzite for which the wine is named, producing small, concentrated berries; nose
of citrus, white currant and stone fruit, bright racy palate with crisp, salty minerality
2023 Hans Wirsching-Iphöfer Scheurebe Trocken, Franken – alc. 12.5%. VDP Ortswein. Rated
90 by Kristen Bieler in Wine Spectator, describing the wine as simmering with mineral and
smoke notes that surround the dense core of firm apple and fragrant pear, with lime-edged
acidity directing a tangy, high-energy finish; in the characteristic Franken fat “bocksbeutel.”
2023 Rebholz Ökonomierat Muskateller Trocken, Pfalz – alc. 11.5%. VDP. Rated 94 by James
Suckling in Wine Advocate, describing the wine as light-bodied with a terrific wet stone
intensity, and white peach and lime zest notes; from one of Germany’s most noted producers
of top-quality dry wines, recently hosted by the GWS at the German Embassy
2024 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp AYL Riesling Premier Cru, Mosel – alc. 11.5%. VDP Erste Lage.
Near the top of the dry wine pyramid under Germany’s 2021 wine law, this “first growth”
wine illustrates that high-quality Mosel wines are not all sweet; from fruit picked on 40-year
old vines, smoky notes, fine spices, dried herbs, juniper, white flowers, herbal tea, aniseed
2024 Stein “Weihwasser” Riesling Feinherb, Mosel – alc. 11%. The “Weihwasser” designation,
“Holy Water”, refers to the vineyard in St. Aldegunder Klosterkammer near the old church; a
barely off-dry Feinherb with notes of salty lemon and pear
Red Wines from Ahr, Baden and Rheinhessen:
2022 Meyer-Näkel Dernau Blue Slate Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), Ahr – alc. 13%. VDP
Ortswein. Rated 92 in Wine Enthusiast, indicating light notes of bramble around a core of
steeped mulberry and blackberry fruit, silky finish and late minerality; from the leading
producer of the Ahr, run by sisters Meike and Dörte Näkel, the 5 th generation at this estate,
farming steep slate slopes in a region unique in Germany for producing a large majority of red
wines, particularly Spätburgunder; characterized by red cherry and cranberry with a light
touch of oak, fine acidity and soft, integrated tannins
2023 Shelter Winery “Lovely Lilly” Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), Baden – alc. 13.5%. Husband
and wife team Hans-Bert Espe and Silke Wolf farm five organic hectares near the Black Forest,
on rich limestone and loess soils; this wine is the entry point to their reds; fragrant nose of
cherry, raspberry and dried flowers, dry juicy palate with bright red berry fruit; “Lovely Lilly”
is the couple’s late vineyard dog
2023 Kühling-Gillot “By Gillot” Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder) Trocken, Rheinhessen – alc. 13%.
From a renowned biodynamic wine estate headed by Carolin Gillot, and grown on warm,
calcereous limestone soils around Oppenheim and Bodenheim, with delicate red berry
aromas like cherry and raspberry, subtle spice and a velvety, medium-bodied texture
Mosel and Rheingau Prädikat Level Rieslings:
2021 Vols-Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese, Mosel – alc. 8.5%. Refined balance of fruit sweetness
and refreshing acidity; aromas of ripe peach, citrus blossom and a hint of mineral slate, bright
acidity; enjoy with spicy foods, roasted poultry, seafood in lemon butter, soft tangy cheeses
2023 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett, Mosel – alc. 7.5%. VDP Grosse Lage.
Rated 96+ by James Suckling in Wine Advocate, who called this wine “the aristocrat of the
Mosel Kabinett world”; from one of the Mosel’s most coveted small estates of just 4.2 hectares
on near-vertical Devonian slate slopes with 100 year-old vines; lively mineral acidity and a
pure lemon finish, almost dry-tasting, very elegant on the palate
2024 A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Kabinett, Mosel – alc. 7.5%. VDP Grosse Lage. Rated
93 by Anne Krebiehl in Vinous Media, calling the wine juicy, vivid, stony and salty, brimming
with Amalfi lemon-tinged juiciness, a little closed on the nose, off-dry
2024 Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett, Rheingau – alc. 8%. VDP Grosse Lage.
Rated 93 by Anne Krebiehl in Vinous Media, touch of woodruff on the nose before lemon
kicks in; the Lenchen is a premier site for fruit-forward and off-dry Riesling, grown on deep
iron-veined loam and loess with a southwest exposure; has lively acidity, peach, crisp apple,
lemon, mineral undercurrent
2024 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese, Mosel – alc. 8%. VDP Grosse Lage. Rated
96 by Anne Krebiehl in Vinous Media, calling this a “total tease” with grapefruit, tangerine and
bergamot scents, citrus foliage; from one of the Mosel’s most legendary estates, with the
Prüm family, now in the 4 th generation, having farmed these blue slate slopes for over a
century; white peach, honeysuckle and pomelo aromas, just off-dry
2024
J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese, Mosel (half bottles) – alc. 7.5%. VDP
Grosse Lage. Rated 97 by Anne Krebiehl in Vinous Media, describing this as flirting with
peach bathed in lemon zest, with a glorious frisson of bergamot, no botrytis to speak of;
compare with the Spätlese from the same producer, grape, vineyard and vintage
Arriving
Oktober Weinfestx
The FoodThe Wines - 2 TablesWhite and Dry, Red
White and Off-dry, Sweet
Comparing the 3 Reds2 Wines Roland Young Brought
Washington DC
schiller-wine: Related Postings
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