Very entertaining small-group tasting of Austrian and German wines of German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter) at our home in McLean with Chinese food of Peter Chang McLean, ranging from high-end Sekt and ultra-premium dry white wines to aged fruity-sweet and noble-sweet wines.
My personal favorite was the bone-dry Weingut Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Ungeheuer GG from the Pfalz, which Roland Young brought, but with this view I was in the minority fraction of the group.
President Carl Willner: On November 18, 2023, at 6 pm, 16 members of
the German Wine Society Capital Chapter convened at the home of
Christian and Annette Schiller in McLean, VA for our penultimate chapter
event of the year (only the Holiday Dinner at Cosmos remains in 2023). This was a members-only event with a small attendance limit of 17
including the Schillers, and thus not advertised on the website or
Meetup, but only by email to members. It had filled up quickly even
with the limited notification. Three
members of the Board were present. The other members attending all had a strong interest in German
wines as well, and most were longtime members of the chapter with
considerable wine experience.
Attendees were expected
to pay in two ways: 1) by bringing a bottle of German or Austrian wine
of at least $25 value, and also 2) by bringing $25 in cash or check to
cover food costs incurred by the Schillers. The final wine list was
quite impressive, as listed below, with a number of members choosing to
go well over the $25 cap in wine value. Of particular note, Roland and
Tickie Young brought from their extensive cellar both a
Dr. Bürkin-Wolf Grand Cru Trocken, and three 375 ml. bottles of a
Trockenbeerenauslese to end the evening. The concept of the evening was
to pair Asian food with the wines, and so Chinese food was sourced from Peter Chang, with three dishes including
Sizzling Chicken and Mix Peppers, Sesame Beef with General Tso Sauce,
and a fish dish including both Shrimp and Scallops. In addition, the
Youngs brought their own food pairings for their wines, a salmon spread
on crostini for the dry Grand Cru, and a foie gras spread on crostini
for the TBA at the end. Annette and Christian also supplied Emmental
cheese, baguette bread, and German holiday cookies.
Each member offered a brief
presentation about his or her wine, which greatly enlivened the event,
and led to considerable discussion of the wines. Of particular note was
a discussion of the Merkelbach brothers, their traditional approach to
winemaking and their character, quite introverted and dedicated to their
craft (2018 was the last year they produced themselves before selling
their winery to the Selbachs in 2019-20, and one of the brothers, Rolf,
passed away in 2023 though Alfred remains). Overall, the event was a
great success from the viewpoints of enjoyment of the members and spread
of wine knowledge among them, even if not financially. The gathering
lasted until about 9:30 pm, with some lingering even longer.
Here are
the wines tasted, in the order finally presented. Just looking at this
list is impressive, and the wines were certainly so! This is the most
extensive and valuable selection of German wines we have been able to
offer for an event this year, with 15 German ones plus two Austrian. We ended up with one more wine than the total number of guests because
Randy Windham generously brought two wines, the Egon Müller and
the Merkelbach, both wonderful choices. Dönnhoff was the most popular
producer chosen, with three different wines, followed by Dr. Loosen with
two, and many other fine producers represented as well. We had a very
interesting comparison toward the end of the tasting, with the 2013
Dönnhoff Riesling Spätlese Carl Willner brought being followed immediately by
another Dönnhoff Riesling from the same village and vineyard brought by
Ken Kelly, but an Auslese from 1989. Both were excellent wines, but as
Ken noted, the Spätlese was more of a dessert wine with the level of sweetness,
while his, despite being an Auslese and more than two decades older,
was somewhat drier and could be paired with a savory dish. Ken was not
sure why the wine changed with age in this way, though a couple of
others at the table explained it scientifically in terms of the chains
of molecules binding and become longer with age. The final TBA, Roland
explained, is by a producer who is a genius at creating high-level BAs,
Eisweins, and TBAs, but for some reason is not able to produce similarly
good regular wines.
Tickie Young: Wonderful
evening, company and exciting wines that you just can’t purchase
here…the thoughtful descriptions and additional facts from Annette and
other society members made for a relaxed social and educational mix. (Christian Schiller: I think only the first and the last wines were aquired overseas and are not available in the domestic market.)
The Wines
2017 Griesel & Compagnie Brut Nature Chardonnay Sekt Hessische Bergstrasse (Christian Schiller)
See: Ultra-premium Sekt:
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Griesel&Compagnie, Sekthaus Streit,
Bensheim, with Winemaker Rachele Crosara - Germany-South and Alsace 2018
Tour by ombiasy WineTours: Baden, Alsace, Pfalz and Rheinhessen
Pairing with Salmon Spread Crostini
2020 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf
Riesling Forster Ungeheuer GC Grand Cru Trocken Pfalz rated 98 by James
Suckling (Roland and Tickie Young)
Roland: Dr.
Bürklin-Wolf. Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Trocken. Suckling rated it a
98. I would have rated it lower at a 94-95. Elegant and young.
Paired with my Smoked Salmon spread on a baguette crostini. Killed a
baby. Best drunk starting in 2026-2043.
My #1 wine of the evening.
Pairings with Sizzling Chicken
2012 Knoll Grüner Veltliner Ried Loibenberg Smaragd Trocken Wachau Austria (Allen Clark)
2006 Hiedler Ludwig Riesling Maximum Kamptal Trocken Austria (Bruce Rosen)
2009 Battenfeld Spanier Kirchenstück Pinot Noir GG Grosses Gewächs Rheinhessen (Annette Schiller)
The only red wine at the tasting.
Pairings with Sesame Beef
2018 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese feinherb Meyer Nepal AP 11 (1.5L) Mosel (Larry Halff)
2021 Dönnhoff Riesling off-dry Nahe (Greg Furst)
2019 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Mosel (Barbara Furst)
2019 Peter Jakob Kühn Östricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett Rheingau (Karen Stokes)
2019 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett Mosel (Randy Windham)
Pairings with fish course of shrimp and scallop
2020 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese Mosel (Leo Settler)
2020 Dr. Loosen Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese Mosel (Joel Cuffman)
2015
Alfred Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese #7 or #10 (In
memory of Rolf Merkelbach who died aged 86 a few weeks ago) Mosel (Randy
Windham)
2014 Schäfer-Frohlich Felseneck Riesling Spätlese Nahe (Nina Willner)
2013 Dönnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese Nahe (Carl Willner)
1989 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Nahe (Ken Kelly)
Pairing with Foie Gras Crostini
2001 Winfried Frey und Söhne Riesling Essinger Rossberg Trockenbeerenauslese Pfalz rated 99 (Roland and Tickie Young)
Roland: My 2001
Frey Riesling TBA was complex, dark amber and simply amazing. Rated at
99. Paired with duck foie gras and black truffles spread on a baguette
crostini.
schiller-wine: Related Postings ombiasy WineTours: Wine Tour Schedule 2023 - Austria, Germany/East, Burgundy/ Champagne, Germany/ North
Summery: Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Tement, Steiermark, with Sommelier Andy Bodor and Manfred and Heidi Tement - Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour, Tasting and
Lunch at Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard in Préhy, Chablis - From Lyon to
Paris: Total Immersion in Burgundy and Champagne 2023 by ombiasy
WineTours
Tasting Top Virginia Wines in Frankfurt, Germany: Virginia Governor's Cup Case 2017
A Journey through
Bourgogne with Louis Jadot - Tasting at the Washington Wine and Cheese
Seminar Presented by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, and Thibaud
Marquis, Louis Jadot
Pre-gaming: The Wines of Austria - Tasting at the Washington DC Wine and Cheese Seminar, led
by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, 2023
Maison Guigal in Ampuis, Côte Rôtie, Northern Rhône: Cellar Tour, Tasting and Vineyard Tour - Rhône Valley Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Culture and History, France
Tour and Tasting at
Château Haut-Bailly, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Cellar Master Jean Christoph - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by
ombiasy WineTours, France
2022 Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Virginia, USA
Massive Tasting of Bordeaux 1982 - the Vintage that made Robert Parker a Star, USA/ France
Carl Willner,
Christian Schiller and Ken Bensley of the German Wine Society/ Washington DC Chapter (Re-)elected to the National Board, USA, Germany
The End of the
"Grosslage" in Germany - Seminar about the new German Wine Law of 2022 at the 2022 American Wine Society National Conference in Bellevue/
Seattle, Washington State, led by Annette Schiller
All Sorts of
Sparklers: How do the Bubbles get into that Bottle? - Tasting at the
American Wine Society (NoVa Chapter) led by Annette Schiller
Germany's Weingut Künstler #2 on James Suckling's List of the Top 100 Wines of the World (2022)
"Wein-Oktoberfest" of the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter) at the German Embassy in Washington DC, USA
Christian Schiller: Re-elected to the Board of the "Weinfeder", the Association of German Wine Journalists
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