Friday, January 24, 2025

Hans Rebholz, Weingut Oekonomierat Rebholz, Pfalz, Presenting his Wines at the German Embassy in Washington DC, USA (January 2025)










Hans Rebholz, Weingut Oekonomierat Rebholz, Pfalz, Germany, spent 5 days in Washington DC and New York City in January 2025.
 
In New York, inter alia, he was one of the 15 star winemakers from Germany and Austria at the 2025 Rieslingfeier (Tasting and Gala Dinner).
 
In Washington DC, arguably the highlight was a 2-hour tasting at the German Embassy, led by Hans Rebholz. 60 wine lovers attended the tasting, organized by Annette and Christian Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, with the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter). 
 
We have not had a German winemaker presenting his or her wines to the American wine lovers at the German Embassy in Washington DC for a very long time. Thank you very much Jean P. Froehly, Head of the Economic Department, Minister, Head of Economic and Financial Affairs, German Embassy Washington D.C, for making this possible.

For more on Hans Rebholz and Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz, see: 

INVITATION TO WINE TASTING WITH WEINGUT ÖKONOMIERAT REBHOLZ AT THE GERMAN EMBASSY, WASHINGTON DC, JAN. 16, 2025, LED BY HANS REBHOLZ

Vineyard Tour and Tasting with Hans Rebholz, Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz (VDP), Pfalz - Germany-South and Alsace 2022 by ombiasy WineTours  

Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz in Siebeldingen, Pfalz, with Hansjörg and Valentin Rebholz and Sabine Wagner - Germany-South and Alsace 2017 Tour by ombiasy WineTours 

Tasting at Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz in Siebeldingen, Pfalz – Germany-South by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
 
Invitation

The German Wine Society Capital Chapter is proud to announce a very special event at the German Embassy in Washington, DC. 

Please join us when we organize a tasting of the wines of Weingut Rebholz, one of the top 5 wine estates in Germany. 

Twins Hans and Valentin Rebholz are the fourth generation at Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz (Ökonomierat - Economic Councillor - is a professional honorary title which is only awarded in this form in the States of Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland and which honors personalities who have made a particular contribution to agriculture and viticulture in the State) in Siebeldingen in Germany’s southern Pfalz wine region. 

The Rebholz family’s connection with wine and winemaking can be traced back to the 16th century but it was Hans' and Valentin’s great-grandfather Eduard Rebholz who transformed the agricultural farm into a wine estate with the clear focus to making pure “natural” wines. 

Hansjörg and Birgit Rebholz, the third generation of the Rebholz family continue what the founder, the Ökonomierat Eduard Rebholz began: producing highly individualistic wines by working as close as possible with nature. 

Today the winery is certified biodynamic. The Rebholz wines do not undergo any chaptalization, fining, or deacidifying nor will sweet reserve be added to stay true to the individuality of the terroir, the climate, and the grape. The Rebholz were the pioneers to producing fully fermented dry wines in the southern Pfalz region. 

The majority of the 47 acres under vine is planted with Riesling and the Burgundy grapes. The famous single vineyard sites are “Kastanienbusch” and “Im Sonnenschein”. Due to their purity the wines have an enormous ageing potential. The Rebholz motto is: “No compromise!” Quoting the Vinum wine guide Germany of 2024, where the estate is among the very few being awarded the maximum of 5 stars: "The wines are absolutely captivating, no compromise would ever leave the cellar, there is no such thing as less than 100 percent.” 

Meet Hans Rebholz while he is in town. It will be fascinating to hear directly from the winemaker about his philosophy behind each of the nine wines we will taste! 

There will be bread, crackers, and cheese bites to accompany the tasting.

Date and Time:
.  
Thursday, January 16, 2025, 5.00 pm - 7.00 pm.   Registrations for this event are due no later than Friday, January 10, 2025.  There is a maximum cap of 60 for this event, given the supply of wines, so register early to avoid disappointment.

Location and Parking:

Carl Schurz Auditorium
German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Price and Registration:  

Participation is $ 40 for members of the German Wine Society and $ 47 for non-members.
 
Report by Carl Willner, President
 
Fellow GWS Capital Chapter Board Members,

On January 16, 2025, the German Wine Society Capital Chapter held its first event of the new year in the Carl Schurz Hall of the German Embassy in Washington, DC, a tasting of the wines of Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz, presented by one of the members of this renowned winemaking family, Hans Rebholz.   The event commenced at 5 pm, and finished about 7 pm (as we left the Embassy, snow was coming down pretty heavily, which made for a beautiful scene).  We had 63 people registered to attend the event including the winemaker, and 56 actually attended, including most members of the Board (myself, Christian Sciilller, Klaus Teuter, Karen Stokes and Jim Palanchar), the importer from the German Wine Collection, Amy Waller, and the distributor from Forager Imports, Todd Schneider.  Two Embassy guests were present, the Minister for the Economic and Finance Department, Jean Froehly, who is an honorary GWS member now and delivered some opening remarks, and the Second Secretary in the Agricultural section, Sebastian Stürmer.  Sebastian, Todd and Amy all helped pour the wines under the direction of Christian.  Annette Schiller, who along with Christian knows the Rebholz family, took the main responsibility for organizing the event after my initial contact with Amy Waller in November 2024, and also delivered opening remarks. 

...The Embassy setup for the event was very attractive, with long tables set up in a rectangular formation, open at the end by the podium, where Hans was able to show a slide presentation and discuss the wines.  The presentation by Hans was well illustrated with pictures of the estate and examples of the terroir.  A wine ordering sheet was also provided to guests, and MacArthur Beverages cooperated in receiving the orders collected by Amy and Annette; participants ordering wines will get them from there, avoiding any concern about wine sales being made at a GWS event.  The presentation by Hans, whose English is very good, was both informative and entertaining, and Hans did a good job of responding to questions from the audience.

Wines served were as follows (3 bottles of each, plus some open ones brought by Amy to help ensure all had enough), with the discounted retail prices offered by MacArthur.  The Rebholz wines were all dry, and this estate in the Pfalz, one of the most highly rated in Germany, produces virtually all dry wines, with just a few rare noble-sweet ones.  But that does not mean that they were all bone-dry; some of them had pleasant traces of fruity sweetness, and all had a good balance.  It was interesting to see that one of the two GGs was a Pinot Blanc; as Hans Rebholz explained, different regions have different rules not only on what grapes can be grown (such as whether Chardonnay is grown), but also on which varieties can be produced as GGs (such as the Pinots).   
  • 2023 Muskateller - $37
  • 2022 Estate Pinot Blanc - $26
  • 2023 ‘vom Muschelkalk’ Pinot Blanc - $57 (substituted for a planned sekt)
  • 2023 Im Sonnenschein Pinot Blanc GG - $119
  • 2023 Estate Riesling - $28
  • 2023 vom Rotliegenden Riesling - $57
  • 2023 Kastanienbusch Riesling GG - $128
  • 2022 'R’ Chardonnay - $99
  • 2021'R' Pinot Noir - $54
Thanks to the success of this event, we can reasonably hope to arrange other German wine producer events with the cooperation of Amy Waller.   We have long hoped to be able to hold wine producer events in the GWS when they visit the Washington area, so this event is a breakthrough for us - the first in-person winemaker visit to the GWS in recent years, but hopefully not the last, and a very good kickoff to our wine year.  
 
Wine Delivery in McLean
 
Hans flew in on Tuesday, January 14, and stopped at our house to deliver the wines for the tasting with Amy Waller from the importer, the German Wine Collection. 






Arriving at the Embassy
 







 
Welcome
 
Jean P. Froehly, Head of the Economic Department, Minister, Head of Economic and Financial Affairs, German Embassy Washington D.C,
 
Carl Willner, President, German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter)
 
and Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours
 
welcome the guests. 
 




Tasting
 


















The Wines
 





 
 
Thank You
 




 
Bye-bye
 

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