Carl Ehrhard Tasting with Maxwell Hessman Event (Nov. 9th, 2018)

Our next event of this fall is a tasting of German wines, primarily from the Carl Ehrhard winery in the Rheingau, but also including wines from St. Christopher in the Mosel and Josef Drathen in the Rheinhessen, presented by Maxwell Hessman.   The tasting will take place on Friday, November 9 at 7:30 pm, with the doors opening at 7 pm for registration.   Please make reservations by November 6.   The price for this tasting is a very reasonable $35 for members, and $42 for non-member guests.   

For this tasting, we are returning to the Van Ness Room at:

3001 Veazey Terrace NW

Washington, DC  20008

Metro is very accessible from the Van Ness stop on the Red Line.   When you enter the apartment building, go from the lobby (located on the 5th floor) down the elevator to the 2nd floor to the Van Ness Room. 

It is our pleasure with this tasting to introduce the wines of Carl Ehrhard to the members of the German Wine Society.  Carl Ehrhard and his family tend 22 acres of Riesling and Pinot Noir across six prime vineyards — Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck, Bischofsberg, Kirchenpfad, Klosterberg and Klosterlay — around the famous wine town of Rüdesheim in the Rheingau wine region of Germany.  The estate, founded in 1815, was taken over by Carl and his wife Petra in 1998.   Carl Ehrhard embraces traditional methods of production, fermentation taking place naturally without the addition of yeasts, and the vineyards are maintained without the use of fertilizers or herbicides.  Fermentation takes place in a mixture of large neutral oak casks and stainless steel tanks.   These precise, powerful wines are lively and fresh in youth and develop depth and character while maintaining clarity as they age.   In the 2017 Eichelmann wine guide, the most prestigious in Germany, Carl Ehrhard was distinguished as the “Aufsteiger des Jahres”, meaning “Climber” or “Rising Star.”   Only one winery each year is chosen for this distinction.

We will round out the tasting with wines from two other German wine producers, St. Christopher and Josef Drathen, for comparison, including a Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese, for a total of ten wines.  

The St. Christopher label has been offering German wines from a variety of prestigious Mosel vineyards such as Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, as well as entry-level and spiced holiday wine, since 1992.   These wines have received a number of positive reviews in Wine Enthusiast, and are very reasonably priced.

The Drathen winery has been in the family possession for over 100 years; the family forefathers originated from the Netherlands, making their way to Germany on the Rhine River.  The Peter Josef Drathen winery was founded in 1860 with its home in St. Aldegund and was renamed in 1927 as the Josef Drathen winery through settlement of the estate.  In 1993 they expanded to a modern winemaking facility in Zell-Barl. 

Wines Tasted:

Carl Ehrhard  – Rheingau

Pinot Noir Sekt Brut 2014 – rated 90 WE

Pinot Noir Blanc De Noir 2017 – rated 87 WE in 2014

Pinot Noir Rose 2017 

Spatburgunder Rüdesheim Berg Roseneck 2015 – rated 90 WE in 2013

Riesling Rudesheim Berg Roseneck Kabinett 2017 – rated 90 WE 2015

Riesling Rudesheim Kabinett Feinherb 2015 – rated 90 WE

St Christopher – Mosel, also Rheinhessen

Qualitätswein Gewürztraminer 2016 – rated 87 WE

Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett 2017 – rated 89 WE 2016

Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese 2016 – rated 89 WE

Josef Drathen – Rheinhessen

Rheinhessen Riesling Auslese 2015

There will be an opportunity to place orders for these wines (just in time for the holidays!) through Maxwell Hessman, for later pickup at Metro Wines and Spirits in Adams Morgan.

Light refreshments – bread, crackers, cheese, fruit and cold cuts – will be provided along with the wines.

You can register and pay for this event in either of two ways.   You can register on our website (germanwinesocietydc.org) and make payment by Paypal.   You will need to set up a GWS account if you have not done so already for past events, and have a Paypal account.  You can also pay by check, made out to the German Wine Society, along with the completed form below, and mailed to the GWS Secretary, at the following address:

Joseph Aguiar

1130 45th Place SE

Washington, DC 2001

The event organizer is Carl Willner, who can be reached at 202-674-9044, or by email at carl.willner1@verizon.net 

All correspondence, other than questions for the organizer, should be directed to our Secretary, Joseph Aguiar, by email to josephlaguiar@gmail.com or by mail at the above address.

All GWS members and guests are reminded that alcohol consumption can lead to intoxication. Therefore Society members and their guests are expected to drink in moderation at Society events. It is advisable to provide designated drivers where available or mostly to taste rather than fully consume alcohol when such drivers or alternative modes of transportation are not available.