Field Trip to Otium Cellars

Get ready for a summer field trip! The Capital Chapter of the German Wine Society is making a field trip to Otium Cellars in beautiful Loudoun county. The German owner of Otium Cellars, Gerhard Bauer, specializes in German/Austrian varietals including Grauburgunder, Grüner Veltliner, Spätburgunder, Lemberger and Dornfelder. He also runs an on-site equestrian facility that breeds world class Hanoverian horses. There is also a working farm with pigs, chickens and ducks.  And the setting is quite picturesque to boot. Perfect for aromatic lighter weight summer wine tasting.

This is a very special event, the  first of its kind at Otium. Visitors will get a winery/vineyard tour followed by narrated educational tasting of 9 wines in three flights. The flights will be:

#1: BLAUFRÄNKISCH (LEMBERGER)

BECK BLAUFRÄNKISCH 2013 (Austria)

HEINRICH BLAUFRÄNKISCH 2013 (Austria)

OTIUM CELLARS BLAUFRÄNKISCH 2014 (Virginia)

#2: DORNFELDER

NONNENKELLER DORNFELDER QBA 2014 (Germany)

SCHNEIDER NIER DORNFELDER TR 2011(Germany)

OTIUM CELLARS DORNFELDER 2014 (Virginia)

#3: GRUNER VELTLINER

LOIMER GRÜNER VELTLINER LANGENLOIS 2014 (Austria)

STEINFELD GRÜNER VELTLINER 2014 (Austria)

OTIUM CELLARS GRÜNER VELTLINER 2015 (Virginia)

There will also be a catered German lunch for this event. The menu for the lunch is as follows and will be self serve, buffet style. The 4 side dishes will be available for everyone to ‘pick two’ the day of:

Sausage Platter with 3 types of Sausages (Bratwurst, Kielbasa and Weisswurst) with Sauerkraut

Side dishes

~ Warm Potato Salad with Local Bacon

~ Sautéed Herb Spaetzle

~ Purple Cabbage and Red Onion Cole Slaw

~ Marinated Tomato Salad

The tasting will be held at Otium Cellars in Loudoun County. The address is:

Otium Cellars
18050 Tranquility Rd
Purcellville, VA 20132

Directions are available from the website at: https://www.otiumcellars.com/

Otium is about a 70 min drive from downtown DC. We assume most folks can find their own way there. Please let us know if you might be interested in a minibus from DC.   If so, make sure to let me know by email (if registering online) or by the form below (if registering by snailmail). If we get enough interest, we will make arrangements for minibus transportation and let you know the cost.  We hope to see you at this truly unique tasting & touring event!

Event cost is $45 for members and $54 for non-members. (Not including bus transportation) The signup deadline is July 27. You can register and pay for this event via Paypal by clicking the button below. You will need to set up a GWS account if you have not done so already for past events, and have a Paypal account. If you have any questions, please contact Mike Fritze at m_fritze@yahoo.com.

You can also pay by mailing a check with names of attendees, total amount enclosed, telephone, and email contact. Please mail the information to:

Mike Fritze
1602 Greenbrier Court
Reston, VA 20190

All GWS members and guests are reminded that alcohol consumption can lead to intoxication. Members and guests should use public transportation, rely on a designated driver, or taste the wines rather than finish them.

Register for this Event