Dear German Wine Society Members and Guests:
You are in for a very special treat: “Abbey Wines”.
This tasting (and seminar) by our own Annette Schiller will show the decisive impact the monasteries and the monks starting in medieval times had on developing viticultural knowledge in Germany and elsewhere.
Annette Schiller is well known to the GWS community through previous wine tastings and her ombiasy wine tours to Bordeaux, Burgundy and Germany. She has visited almost all of the estates she will present on one or more of her tours and has intimate knowledge of these producers.
Annette will present 12 wines – 8 from Germany, 2 from France, 1 from Austria, 1 from Italy (Alto Aldige) – that are still produced in monasteries. Some monasteries have been secularized and taken over by government entities, some are now in private hands, others are still today run by monks or sisters. The highlight will be the Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot from the Côte d'Or which retails for about US$ 180. In 1336 the monks of Cîteaux – owners of the vineyard site Clos de Vougeot – were the first to notice that different plots gave different wines and therefore laid the earliest foundation of the vineyard classification system.
The monasteries were always a center of intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge. The monasteries had huge holdings on farmland and vineyards - mostly gifts of rich aristocrats who at the end of their lives thought to buy a stairway to heaven. The monks had to work in agriculture to sustain their living. Therefore the monks not only focused on religious studies but also on studying better methods in farming and viticulture. The monks were also instrumental in spreading the art of viticulture to other parts of Europe by establishing daughter monasteries all over Europe. Without their work viticulture would not have developed the way it did and would not have become a part of fine living as we know it today throughout the world.
The wines:
01) 2015 Bermatinger Spätburgunder, Markgraf von Baden, Bodensee, Baden
02) 2015 Clos de Vougeot, Pinot Noir, Grand Cru, Burgundy, France
03) NV Crémant, Brut, von Hövel, Mosel
04) 2017 Grauburgunder, Klosterhof Töplitz, Brandenburg, Saale-Unstrut
05) 2015 Saalhäuser Pinot-Blanc, Kloster Pforta, Saale-Unstrut
06) 2016 Eisacktaler Sylvaner, Kloster Neustift, Alto Aldige, Italy
07) 2016 Grüner Veltliner, Stift Klosterneuburg, Wachau, Austria
08) 2016 Riesling, Abtei Sankt Hildegard, Rheingau
09) 2016 Riesling, Weingut Liebfrauenstift, Rheinhessen
10) 2016 Steinberger, Riesling, Kloster Eberbach, Rheingau
11) 2016 Riesling, Réserve, Domaine Weinbach, Alsace, France
12) 2014 Riesling Goldtröpfchen GG, Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt, Mosel
DATE: Friday, April 20th, Doors open at 7:00 pm; tasting begins at 7:30 pm. Please make reservations by April 16, 2018.
VENUE: Harbour Square Club Room, 500 N St SW, Washington, DC. Marilyn Scarbrough has reserved a few parking spaces, but we cannot guarantee these will be available. The Waterfront Metro Station is nearby.
COST: $40 for members, $47 for non-members.
Cheese and charcuterie will be served. Alcohol consumption can lead to intoxication. GWS members and guests should use public transportation, rely on a designated driver or taxi, or taste the wines rather than finish them.
If you have any questions, please email Christian Schiller at cschiller@schiller-wine.com or Annette Schiller at aschiller@ombiasypr.com
Attendance will need to be limited to 46 people. Make your reservation early.
Paying by PayPal: http://germanwinesocietydc.org/shop/
Paying by check: Mail your check, made out to the ‘German Wine Society’, along with the completed form below, to:
Joseph L. Aguiar
2501 Calvert St NW
Apt 501
Washington, DC 20008
GERMAN WINE SOCIETY Abbey Wines – April 20, 2018, 7:00pm
Member(s) Name__________________________________
Non-Member(s) Name______________________________
Email__________________________________________
Telephone_______________________________________
schiller-wine: Related Postings
Upcoming Tours/ Wine Dinners/ Tastings - Annette and Christian Schiller/ ombiasyPR & WineTours/ schiller-wine, Germany, France, USA (March 1, 2018)
Ombiasy Wine Tours 2018: 3 x France and 3 x Germany - Ombiasy Newsletter December 2017
Germany meets France: Bourgogne, Baden, Alsace and Pfalz - Tasting with the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter), led by Annette Schiller, USA/ France/ Germany
Visit: Château du Clos de Vougeot– Bourgogne Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Kloster Eberbach in the Rheingau: Lunch, Tour of the Abbey, the Steinberg and the Steinbergkeller, with Tasting - Germany-North Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut von Hövel, Saar, with Owner/ Winemaker Maximilian von Kunow - Germany-North Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours