Annette and I threw our Annual Riesling Party at our Washington DC area home August 25, 2019. This is a casual wine tasting and socializing event taking place inside well as outside on our decks. Each guest has to bring a bottle of Riesling/ German wine. Annette prepares typical German food to enjoy with the wines.
Lamost all of the pictures in this posting are mine, except for a few that I took from the facebook pages of people who came to the 2019 Riesling Party and posted pictures on facebook.
Riesling
Worldwide, there are about 34.000 hectares planted with Riesling. Germany – with 22.400 hectares – accounts for 2/3 of the total. The second largest Riesling producer is Australia, with 4500 hectares. But this is only about 1/10 of the total. Alsace follows with 3500 hectares. Austria, the US with Washington State and New York State as well as New Zealand make up the remainder. But overall, Riesling is really a niche wine, accounting for only less than 1 percent of total wine production in the world - but a very special niche wine.
Dry and Sweet Riesling
Many wine drinkers, in particular outside of Europe, when they see a Riesling in the shelves, have the association of a sweet-style wine. This is however misguided. Rieslings as a rule are dry wines. Of course, there are the famous sugar sweet Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, Eiswein and Schilfwein wines from Austria and Germany, the Sélection de Grains Nobles from France, the icewines from Canada and other Rieslings, made from botrytized, dried or frozen grapes.
The grapes that go into these wines have such a high sugar content that there is nothing you can do to make dry wines out of these grapes. They inevitably produce nobly sweet wines. But apart from these specialty wine, which account for only a tiny share of total production, Riesling grapes in Germany, Austria, Alsace, the US and Australia have normal sugar content at the time of fermentation and tend to produce dry wines, when fully fermented.
However, modern cellar methods allow winemakers in Germany (and elsewhere) to produce wines with a bit of residual sugar with these grapes. These are exceptional wines, essentially made by not letting the fermentation going its full course so that natural sugar remains in the wine. Alternatively, German winemakers are allowed to add sweet-reserve (sterilized grape juice) to increase the sweetness level in the wine, but today, this is mostly done, if at all, for fine tuning the residual sweetness. These fruity-sweet wines are the wines that are so popular among the fans of German wine in the world. These sweet-style wines have lost popularity in Germany, although there appears to be a comeback, but in any case remain very popular outside of Germany, for example in the US.
Schiller's Riesling Party 2019
This year, 85 Riesling/ German wine lovers followed the call and showed up with a bottle of wine. The center of the party was our lower deck, where I had arranged the wines according to their sweetness level.
Klaus Teuter brought 6 older wines from his personal collection, including 2 Auslese wines from 1976 and a Beerenauslese from 1989.
The Food
The food - German sausage and home-made potatoe salad as well as starters, cheese and dessert - was served in our dining room.
The Wines
There was a total of 90 bottles. 2/3 of the wines were from Germany, mostly Riesling. Other well represented regions were Alsace, Austria and the Finger Lakes (USA). Klaus Teuter brought 6 older wines from his personal collection, including 2 Auslese wines from 1976 and a Beerenauslese from 1989.
Lower Deck
The lower deck was the center of the party for most of the time.
Upper Deck
There were always people on the upper deck, but everybody who was still there moved to the upper deck when Klaus Teuter poured his 6 special wines.
Klaus Teuter's 6 Special Wines
The 6 wines were all in good shape and we enjoyed them very much allthough they all had aged excessively and were dark brown. What a treat. Thanks Klaus for your generosity.
Inside
Invitation
Hello wine folks,
this year again we will host a Riesling Party in the dead of summer (to show you that a Riesling is the perfect thirst quencher).
WHEN: Sunday, August 25 at 4.30 pm
WHERE: at our home in Mclean
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: bring one bottle per person of Riesling (from anywhere in the world). You may also bring a bottle of bubbles or a red one if you are not such a Riesling fan.
We will provide: food, water, glasses - everything that makes a party great - AND: a very special Riesling!
Please let us know if you plan to come. I will then provide you with our address.
So much looking forward to seeing many old wine friends and perhaps some new ones!
CHEERS and see you soon!
Annette & Christian
aschiller@ombiasypr.com
Roland Young on Facebook
Roland Young on Facebook: Went to a wonderful Riesling soiree at Christian and Annette Schiller’s house in Mclean, VA, Sunday. It is an annual event and the weather this year was absolutely perfect. Everyone brought a bottle of Riesling to share. I brought a nice 1995 Zind-Humbrecht Clos Hauserer that was still nicely drinkable. However, someone for some unknown reason brought a 1990 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes. Tickie flushed it out of its hiding place and she and I devoured the entire bottle with glee. The one who brought it must have not known what they had. 1990 was one of the best vintages of the 20th Century and it was a top Chateau. Rated a 95 by Wine Spectator, it was a Botrytis bomb! Deep gold color with spicy almond and Toffee character with pineapple overtones. Full bodied with good acidity and very very ripe. A blistering long finish. Great German food was had. Towards the end, someone began opening some 40+ year old German Riesling dessert wines to sample including one from 1976 that had the color of treacle in the decanter. Lots of fun!
Donna Christenson on Facebook
Thank you so much to Annette Schiller and Christian Schiller for hosting such a wonderful Riesling party. In addition to a wide range of currently available wines, we were treated to a rare opportunity to try a range of vintage Rieslings from as far back as 1976. Multiple decks of the Schillers' gracious home offered the perfect summer evening setting to enjoy wonderful wines, an array of delicious German food and good conversations! Thank you for including me!
Previous Riesling Parties at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Virginia
This was our sixth annual Riesling Party in McLean, Virginia:
Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA (2017)
Annette and Christian Schiller’s Summer of Riesling 2016 in McLean, Virginia, with German Star Winemaker Christian L. Stahl, German Wine Journalist Joachim A.J. Kaiser and Virginia Star Winemaker Chris Pearmund
Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA (2015)
Riesling Summer at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA (2014)
Summer of Riesling with Annette and Christian Schiller in Washington DC, USA (2013)
2019
2018
No Annual Riesling Party
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
schiller-wine: Related Postings
Announcement: ombiasy WineTours in 2019 - Germany-North and Bordeaux
Ombiasy Wine Tours 2018: 3 x France and 3 x Germany - Ombiasy Newsletter December 2017
Reminder: Ombiasy Wine Tour to Bordeaux: September 03 - September 12, 2019
UPCOMING Tours/ Wine Dinners/ Tastings - Annette and Christian Schiller/ ombiasyPR & WineTours/ schiller-wine, Germany, France, USA (Issued: August 1, 2019)