My wife Annette Schiller from ombiasyPR and WineTours and I tasted the wines of Weingut Jülg for the first time in Frankfurt, Germany, at a portolio tasting of K&M Gutsweine, owned and run by Bernd Klingebrunn and Armin Busch. Johannes Jülg from Weingut Jülg in Schweigen in the Pflaz was there and he impressed Annette with his wines and his personality. As a result, Annette included Weingut Jülg in her wine tours by ombiasy. In 2014, we stopped at Weingut Jülg in Schweigen for lunch cum tasting and a cellar tour. At this occasions, we got to know the whole Jülg family, including the 2 brothers of Johannes, Moritz Jülg and Friedrich Jülg.
A few months later in New York, we run into Charles Woods, the Owner and General Manager of Bonhomie Imports, who discovered Weingut Jülg for the American marker and who is their US importer. He told us about Friedrich Jülg joining him for 6 months in New York to learn about the American market. With Friedrich Jülg being just 5 hours away from Washington DC, we had to bring him to Washington DC for a winemaker dinner.
The event took place at Evo Bistro. Attendance was excellent, exceeding 40 people. It was an exciting evening with great wines and great food.
When Charles Woods heard about the good attendance, he decided to also drive down to Washington DC and join us for the dinner. Also, by pure chance, Armin Busch and his wife from the wine store in Frankfurt, where we had discovered Weingut Jülg, was in Washington DC that weekend and joint us for the dinner.
Invitation
Dear Wine friends,
Evo Bistro and ombiasy PR & WineTours are proud to announce that we will have the perfect spring menu for you: fresh, fruity, premium German Rieslings and Pinot Noirs with Driss Zahidi - one of the best chefs in the greater Washington area - preparing mouthwatering courses to pair with the fruit and earth profile of the wines.
I apologize for this very late announcement but to get Friedrich to Virginia, took some planning and I am very happy that it all worked out in the end and that we will have the dinner at the fabulous Evo Bistro with Chef Driss Zahidi.
Please join us in welcoming Friedrich Jülg, a very promising, energetic, ambitious young winemaker from the Pfalz region in Germany who will talk about the wines.
The Jülg wine estate is unique. The vineyards are in two countries - Germany and Alsace- due to the winery’s location right on the German/French border and the many switches of the Alsatian territory between France and Germany. In this area the Rhine rift created many different soil types which presented favorable conditions for planting a wide variety of grapes. The Jülg winery is a family affair: grandmother - parents - three sons: the 3 generations are working in harmony under under roof: Karin Jülg runs the wine tavern which is known for outstanding traditional Pfälzer cuisine. In the mid 80s Werner Jülg converted the family winery from a low-end mass producing winery -so typical for the Pfalz in those days-, into a wine estate that produces outstanding wines of the highest quality. His mother Erika is still in the kitchen and prepares the delicious meals served in the tavern. Werner and Karin’s three sons Johannes, Friedrich and Moritz are slowly taking over. Johannes and Friedrich studied winemaking at the famous Geisenheim Oenological University and Moritz studied wine marketing. Winery Jülg is also known for producing excellent Sekt: the Blanc de Noir produced in the Method Champenoise with traditional Champagner grapes is absolutely delicious and on par with the best Champagnes. Winery Jülg produces only dry wines.
Jülg Wines in the USA: Bonhomie Wine Imports
Jülg wines are available in the USA through Bonhomie Wine Imports: From the southernmost village in the Pfalz, Schweigen, we bring you the wines of Weingut Jülg. In fact it’s so close to the border that the top vineyard site, the Sonnenburg is actually 2/3s in France! Johannes Jülg has recently taken the reins here from his father Werner, and continues a tradition of growing with respect for nature, using green manure only for fertilization and hand harvesting. Soils are complex here and there is great diversity from site to site. In 2012 the Buntsandstein Riesling provides the right balance, with lifted aromatics and tangy passionfruit. From the Sonnenburg comes a lushly fruited Scheurebe that has the crisp cut of grapefruit-like citrusy tartness and also, a racy and vibrant dry Muskateller laced with spice and mineral notes that linger in the finish. Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc are also important grapes here, look for them later on this year.
The Winemaker Dinner
Evo Bistro, Thursday, May 21, 2015, 7:00pm $55 per person plus tax and gratuity
COURSE 1
Scallops Foie Gras
Jumbo Scallops with Toasted Almonds
Weingut Jülg Riesling Kalkmergel 2013
Weingut Jülg Riesling Buntsandstein 2013
Weingut Jülg has 2 grapes (out of 5 grapes) in the Gault Millau: We are very happy with the performance of Johannes Jülg. He likes to add a French touch to his wines and does this very successfully. This means that the fruit components are moved to the backburner. Instead, character and a long aging potential dominate. This approach shows best in the Riesling wines from St. Paul and Springberg – luscious notes of yellow fruit, with good concentration and minerality. Equally, his Pinot Noir is a wine for the true connoisseur – Pinot pure.
COURSE 2
Surf & Turf
Halibut and Filet Mignon
Asparagus Risotto and Mashed Potatoes
Weingut Jülg Pinot Noir 2013
Entry-level Pinot Noir. Excellent value.
Weingut Jülg Pinot Noir Sonnenberg 2011
The flagship wine of Weingut Jülg. Concentrated, fine, elegant. Johannes achieves this by limiting the yield to 30 hl/ha, hand-selecting the small, aromatic berries at harvest, spontaneous fermentation, on the lees for 14 days, and 18 months aging in new barrique barrels. On the nose, aromas of blackberry and cherry, coupled with some leather, good concentration on the palate, flavors of warm spice and cranberry last through the long finish. Outstanding wine.
COURSE 3
Artisan Cheese Sampler
Chef's Selection of Cheeses
Baguette and Seasonal Fruits
Scheurebe 2013
Chef Driss Zahidi and Evo Bistro
Evo Bistro is both my down-the-road Wine Bar in McLean, Virginia, and my favorite Restaurant and Bistro in the Washington DC area. It combines an unpretentious French-Mediterranean atmosphere with top wines from around the world, both the old and the new world, and delicious French, Moroccan and Spanish tapas, prepared by Owner/Chef Driss Zahidi, who I know from the days of the tiny Corner Bistro on Old Dominion.
See also:
Riesling and Couscous at Chef Driss Zahidi’s Le Mediterranean Bistro in Fairfax, Virginia USA
Dennis Cakebread and his Wines, Napa Valley, at EVO Bistro, Virginia
A German Riesling Pairing Event at Evo Bistro in McLean, Virginia - A Royal Wine Visit from Princess Sabine Wagner, US
Ombiasy PR and WineTours
ombiasyPR and WineTours organizes wine events in the Washington DC (USA) and the Frankfurt (Germany) areas, and wine tours to Germany, Burgundy and Bordeaux.
The Art Marketer: Ombiasy Public Relations & Wine Tours serves up a Couples Life Long Passion for Wine. Conceived, created, owned and operated by the venerable husband and wife team, Annette & Christian Schiller, Ombiasy Public Relations & Wine Tours represents the lifelong passion the Schillers have for wine. Their business is founded on the passion, knowledge and network of contacts they have made throughout their travels around the world, an interest that started for them both while students at the University of Mainz in Germany.
See:
4 Wine Tours by ombiasy coming up in 2015: Germany-East, Germany-South. Germany-Nord and Bordeaux
With ombiasy WineTours at Weingut Jülg
The recent Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours included a lunch, winetasting and cellar tour at Weingut Jülg in Schweigen, Germany.
See:
Lunch, Wine Tasting and Winery Tour at Weingut Jülg in Schweigen, Pfalz with the Jülg Family – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Weingut Jülg
Weingut Jülg is in Schweigen, the southernmost village in the Pfalz region, right at the border to France. The winery was founded in 1961. Today, Werner Jülg is in charge of the overall management of the winery. Since 2010, his oldest son Johannes has been responsible for the winemaking.
The vineyard area totals 18 hectares in the Einzellage (single vineyard) Sonnenberg (of which 40% is in France) and the Gewanne (lieu-dit) Springberg, Pfarrwingert, St. Paul und Wormberg.
White grape varieties account for 70% of the production, with Riesling, Weißburgunder and Grauburgunder dominating. Red grape varities account for 30% of the production, with Pinot Noir and St. Laurent in the lead.
Total production is 12.000 cases. Most of the wine is sold at the estate – in the wine tavern, the garden restaurant and directly to consumers. 20% of the wine is exported, including to the USA (5%).
The Jülg Family
Weingut Jülg is a traditional family winery cum wine tavern and garden restaurant, with 3 generations involved.
Werner and Karin Jülg – in their 50s I would guess - are the generation in the middle. Werner took over the winery several years ago from his father Oskar, while his brother Peter fell in love with a French girl from a village just 10 kilometers away in Alsace and established Maison Jülg in France. For the last 20 or 30 years ago, until handing over to his son Johannes, Werner was in charge of winemaking. Karin runs the wine tavern and the lovely garden restaurant.
Werner’s mother Erika is still in the kitchen, while her husband Oskar passed away.
Werner and Karin Jülg have three sons: Johannes, Friedrich and Moritz. Johannes Jülg is now responsible for winemaking at Weingut Jülg. Before coming back home to Schweigen in 2010, he looked around in the world of fine wine, including at Theo Minges, Weegmüller, Keller, Stodden and Clemens Busch in Germany and at Domaine des Lambrays in the Bourgogne.
Friedrich graduated with a Bachelor of International Wine Business from Geisenheim University earlier this year and currently is on a six months stint in New York City with the US importer of Weingut Jülg, Bonhomie Wine Imports.
Moritz got a degree in Marketing and International Business in January 2015. After stints at the Daimler AG and the Robert Bosch GmbH, he will do an internship at Audi AG in Ingolstadt next month.
schiller-wine: Related Postings
4 Wine Tours by ombiasy coming up in 2015: Germany-East, Germany-South. Germany-Nord and Bordeaux
Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
Announcement: Winemaker Dinner with Friedrich Jülg, Weingut Jülg, at Evo Bistro in McLean, Virginia, on Thursday, May 21, 2015, 7:00pm
Lunch, Wine Tasting and Winery Tour at Weingut Jülg in Schweigen, Pfalz with the Jülg Family – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Riesling Summer at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA
Riesling and Couscous at Chef Driss Zahidi’s Le Mediterranean Bistro in Fairfax, Virginia USA
Dennis Cakebread and his Wines, Napa Valley, at EVO Bistro, Virginia
A German Riesling Pairing Event at Evo Bistro in McLean, Virginia - A Royal Wine Visit from Princess Sabine Wagner, US