Rieslings ’round the World

Mark your calendar now for our “Rieslings ’round the World” Riesling Blind Tasting, led by our own Carl Brandhorst.  The evening’s tasting takes place in the Harbour Square Club Room. The address for our tasting is 500 N St SW, Washington, DC. 20024-4605. Parking is available on the street and in the complex on a first-come-first-served basis.

The date is Friday, November 4th, starting at 7:30 PM.  The price will be $35 for members and $42 for non-members.

At this tasting, the German Wine Society will present a blind tasting of Rieslings from several countries around the world.  There will be ten wines in two flights, five wines to a flight.  There will be one German wine to satisfy those thinking that only German Rieslings are worth drinking.  In each flight, five wines will be poured for comparative tasting.   During the break between the flights, light hors d’oeuvres will be served. Only crackers and water will be available during the flights..

The session will be limited to 36 participants because the available wine is limited. After each flight participants will receive a list of the wines tasted. During the flights, sheets containing the modified Davis Scale, normally used in national wine judging events, will be provided so that participants can record their impressions based upon color, aroma, taste, finish and hedonistic impression.

The purpose of this educational tasting is to show that excellent Rieslings are produced in countries other than Germany, and for each participant to determine which of the wines he or she prefers.  In selecting the Rieslings for this presentation, the presenter tasted many Rieslings generally available in the Washington metropolitan area to see which ones met his criteria.  The criteria will be stated at the beginning of the presentation.

The deadline is Friday, October 31st.  Please send your reservation ASAP, so we can finalize planning. We are united in our love for German wines.  But the Riesling grape grows in many places and makes excellent wine outside of Germany. This is not an exercise to pick out the German wine, but to show the variation that the Riesling grape exhibits and to see if you like some of these different styles.