Small-group Tasting of German and Austrian Wines with Chinese Food (of Peter Chang) at our Home in McLean, Virginia, German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter)

Attendees were expected to pay in two ways:  1) by bringing a bottle of German or Austrian wine of at least $25 value, and also 2) by bringing $25 in cash or check to cover food costs incurred by the Schillers. The final wine list was quite impressive, as listed below, with a number of members choosing to go well over the $25 cap in wine value.  Of particular note, Roland and Tickie Young brought from their extensive cellar both a Dr. Bürkin-Wolf Grand Cru Trocken, and three 375 ml. bottles of a Trockenbeerenauslese to end the evening. The concept of the evening was to pair Asian food with the wines, and so Chinese food was sourced from Peter Chang, with three dishes including Sizzling Chicken and Mix Peppers, Sesame Beef with General Tso Sauce, and a fish dish including both Shrimp and Scallops. In addition, the Youngs brought their own food pairings for their wines, a salmon spread on crostini for the dry Grand Cru, and a foie gras spread on crostini for the TBA at the end. Annette and Christian also supplied Emmental cheese, baguette bread, and German holiday cookies.   

Each member offered a brief presentation about his or her wine, which greatly enlivened the event, and led to considerable discussion of the wines. Of particular note was a discussion of the Merkelbach brothers, their traditional approach to winemaking and their character, quite introverted and dedicated to their craft (2018 was the last year they produced themselves before selling their winery to the Selbachs in 2019-20, and one of the brothers, Rolf, passed away in 2023 though Alfred remains).  Overall, the event was a great success from the viewpoints of enjoyment of the members and spread of wine knowledge among them, even if not financially. The gathering lasted until about 9:30 pm, with some lingering even longer. 

Here are the wines tasted, in the order finally presented. Just looking at this list is impressive, and the wines were certainly so! This is the most extensive and valuable selection of German wines we have been able to offer for an event this year, with 15 German ones plus two Austrian. We ended up with one more wine than the total number of guests because Randy Windham generously brought two wines, the Egon Müller and the Merkelbach, both wonderful choices. Dönnhoff was the most popular producer chosen, with three different wines, followed by Dr. Loosen with two, and many other fine producers represented as well. We had a very interesting comparison toward the end of the tasting, with the 2013 Dönnhoff Riesling Spätlese Carl Willner brought being followed immediately by another Dönnhoff Riesling from the same village and vineyard brought by Ken Kelly, but an Auslese from 1989. Both were excellent wines, but as Ken noted, the Spätlese was more of a dessert wine with the level of sweetness, while his, despite being an Auslese and more than two decades older, was somewhat drier and could be paired with a savory dish. Ken was not sure why the wine changed with age in this way, though a couple of others at the table explained it scientifically in terms of the chains of molecules binding and become longer with age. The final TBA, Roland explained, is by a producer who is a genius at creating high-level BAs, Eisweins, and TBAs, but for some reason is not able to produce similarly good regular wines.

 

Tickie Young: Wonderful evening, company and exciting wines that you just can’t purchase here…the thoughtful descriptions and additional facts from Annette and other society members made for a relaxed social and educational mix. (Christian Schiller: I think only the first and the last wines were aquired overseas and are not available in the domestic market.)