We are happy to bring to your attention a fantastic event happening in our area. Evo Bistro and ombiasy PR & WineTours are proud to announce that they will have the perfect spring menu for you: fresh, fruity, premium German Rieslings and Pinot Noirs with Driss Zahidi -one of the best chefs in the greater Washington area- preparing mouth watering courses to pair with the fruit and earth profile of the wines. Friedrich Jülg, a very promising, energetic, ambitious young winemaker from the Pfalz region in Germany, will pair his wines with the evening dishes.

For additional details, please visit board member Christian Schiller’s blog.

German Wine Society Members,

A local free event, the 10th Annual German Wine Festival, is happening this Sunday, March the 1st at finewine.com’s Gaithersburg store. This event is not affiliated with the German Wine Society but we thought we would mention it as it’s a great opportunity to taste some fantastic German wines! Hope to see you there!

We are pleased to invite you to our FREE All-German Winemaker Festival this Sunday, March 1st in our Gaithersburg from Noon – 4:30 pm. Come by to taste 17 wines, including 5 brand new to the USA!

This will be a unique opportunity to taste with our visiting German winemakers. Meet Paul Anheuser, Johann Fitz, Frank Heyden, Ursula Muller, Derek Vinnicombe, Stefan Boling and Tom Ward. Learn how these wines are made and why directly from the source. See if you like dry and crisp or more fruity wines. It’s also a wonderful chance taste all your favorites side by side. Best of all, if you like any of these wines, we’ve priced them so that they’re easy to take home. Plus, we have a 10% mixed case discount on all non-sale items applied to all purchases of 12 or more sale or non-sale bottles.German Wine Event of the Year – Sunday!!!



Plus 10% Off These Wines During Tasting We’re delighted to showcase 17 outstanding German wines along with their winemakers. These are some of the best Germany has to offer. These wines are great for not only sipping, but they are outstanding with all sorts of cuisine. Best of all, if you like any of these wines, we’ve priced them so that they’re easy to take home. Every German wine at the tasting will be 10% Off when purchased during the tasting.

• Schneider Niersteiner Hipping Riesling Spatlese 2012
  – Wonderful flavors of lemon curd, white pepper and red peach emerge in this Spatlese, with candied herb notes and a luscious finish of mint, cream and spice.
  – Wine Spectator 91 Pts

• Dr Pauly Bergweiller Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 2011
  – Hints of licorice to the Fuji apple, peach and white chocolate flavors. Finishes with Key lime and ruby grapefruit notes. – Wine Spectator 92 Pts

• Dr Pauly Bergweiller Riesling Trocken QBA 2012
  – Aromas of orange blossom and fresh pears on this dry, richly textured wine. Ripe pineapple and tangerine flavors are unabashedly mouthwatering. – Wine Enthusiast 90 Pts

• Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett 2013
  – “Opulent ripe yellow fruit with pineapple and mango as well as a hint of elderberries.”
  – Wine & Spirits 90 Pts

• Dr. Thanisch Bernkasteler Riesling Spatlese Trocken 2012
  – “Inviting spicy aromas with a pronounced flintyness and a well-integrated acidity create a memorable experience on the DRY, food-oriented Riesling.” – Wine & Spirits 90 Pts

• Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Qualitatswein 2013
  – “Marked by a delicate fruit profile, mineral notes, elevated acidity and lower levels of residual sugar.”
  – Wine Enthusiast 90 Pts

• Fitz-Ritter Riesling Extra Trochen Sekt NV
  – lightly toasty on the nose, but there’s plenty of fresh fruit as well, ranging from apple to pineapple and tangerine. Clean, fresh and easy to drink and enjoy. This method produces bright, clean sparkling wines. Absolutely delightful to drink!

• Fitz-Ritter Durkheimer Gewurztraminer Spätlese 2013
  – This gorgeous wine exhibits the classic Gewürztraminer nose of lychee, rose petals, spice and ripe stone fruit with notes of earthy minerality. Sweet and richly textured, round mouthfeel with an added note of ginger and smoky spice on the finish.

• Dr. Pauly Bergweiler “Noble House” Dornfelder 2013
  – Dornfelder is a fruity red wine cultivated in the vineyards of Rheinhessen, Germany’s winegrowing region famous for red wines. This is one of our favorite fruity, semi-sweet reds!

• Dr. Pauly Bergweiler “Noble House” Riesling QBA 2014
  – An appealing bouquet of peach and apple aroma. A very balanced and harmonious wine with delicate aromas and minerality.

• Bollig-Lehnert Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett 2012
  – A Crisp with a fine fruity elegance and good mineral content. The fine structure of ripe acidity gives his wines plenty of maturing potential.

• Bollig-Lehnert Piesporter Goldtropfchen Spatlese 2013
  – Ripe and succulent, full of tropical fruit flavors of pineapple, mango and guava, with pastry accents. Offers a bright finish of kiwifruit and lime, showing a touch of chamomile and cream. Yum Yum

• Scheider Niesteiner Paterberg Riesling Kabinett 2012
  – Features a core of apricot and spiced apple flavors that offer some smoky accents.
  – Wine Spectator 89 Pts

• Dr Heyden Oppenheimer Riesling Kabinett 2013
  – Apple and pear fruit merge with crisp, bright minerals to create a perfectly balanced, delightfully fruity white.

• Dr Heyden Oppenheimer Sacktrager Spatlese 2012
  – Pronounced sweetness as well as typical juicy peach and apricot flavors from the rich loam and clay soils with limestones throughout.

• Paul Anheuser Blanc de Noir QBA 2013
  – Appealing Pinot Noir flavors, such as cherry, strawberry

• Paul Anheuser Schlossbockelheimer Konigsfels Riesling Kabinett 2012
  – A plush style, with plenty of white fruit flavors and a good backbone of acidity.

Hello German Wine Enthusiasts,

Board member Christian Schiller has an excellent blog post of our recent food pairing with Janet Cam this past November 14th. He discusses the history of German Sekt and the background of the producers that we tasted.

There is a dozen or so large Sekt houses. They produce more than 200000 cases each annually. Most of these large Sekt houses were established in the 1800s. At that time, there was only one method known to produce Sekt, the méthode traditionnelle. But in contrast to the champagne houses, the large Sekt houses have all moved to the charmat method as main method of the second fermentation after World War II. Like the champagne houses, Sekt houses do not own vineyards, but purchase the base wine from winemakers. More than three quarters of the base wine used to make Sekt is imported from other EU countries, essentially Italy, France and Spain. Sekt can only be labeled as Deutscher Sekt if it is made exclusively from German grapes, which is rare in the case of the large and the smaller Sekt houses. Most of the Sekt houses have beautiful chateau-type facilities with old underground cellars for the second fermentation and storage. Overall, these Sekts are reasonably priced, are of good quality, but with the introduction of the charmat method are no longer in the same class as their counterparts in the champagne region.

The smaller Sekt houses, like the large Sekt houses, do not own vineyards, but also buy the base wine from winemakers. They also tend to have a long history and often links to the champagne region, beautiful facilities and old cellars for the second fermentation and storage. The big difference is that they typically have not gone the route of tank fermentation but continue to ferment in the méthode traditionnelle.

Be sure to read the rest of the post here.