Annette and I threw our Annual Riesling Party at our Washington DC area home in mid-August. 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.
See: Invitation: 2017 Annual Riesling Party at the Schillers in Virginia/ USA and 2017 Fall Wine Tours to Bordeaux & Germany South-Alsace
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.
Schiller's Riesling Party 2017
This year, 90 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.
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.
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 74 bottles. 2/3 of the wines were from Germany, mostly Riesling, and also included Sekt and red wines.
Schiller's Favorites
We had 52 German wines. I liked in particular the following 16 wines. This is not to say that they were the best wines. I liked them most for a variety of reasons, including the quality, the price/ quality ratio, a special/ friendly relationship with the winemaker, etc. For almost all of the selected 16 wines, I know the owner/ winemaker very well and have visited the winery, typically on an ombiasy WineTour.
German Reds
People brought 3 German red wines. They were all entry-level wines.
There is a red wine boom in Germany. The share of red wines in terms of production has increased from 10 percent in the 1980s to about 35 percent now in Germany. Of course, given its location, the German red wines tend to be not like the fruity red wines we know from warmer countries, but lean and more elegant, with a lot of finesse. 30 years ago, in the international scene, people would not talk about German red wine. But this has changed. Germany now produces red wines that can compete with the best of the world.
See: The New Germany: Red, Sparkling and Dry - Tasting at the American Wine Society 2016 National Conference in Los Angeles, USA, led by Annette Schiller
JJ Prüm
Typically, we have several wines from Weingut JJ Prüm in the Mosel Region at our annual Riesling Party. This year, we only had 1 wine from Weingut JJ Prüm.
For more on Weingut JJ Prüm see: Tasting at the Legendary Weingut J.J. Prüm with Amei Prüm– Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016
Sekt
We had one Sek, an entry-level Sekt.
Germans have always been obsessed with sparkling wines: 1 out of 4 sparklers produced in the world is consumed in Germany; and Germany is home to the second largest sparkling wine producer world-wide. Sekt is made in all German wine regions, both in the méthode traditionnelle and charmat method. There are three groups of Sekt makers: (i) large and (ii) smaller Sekt houses, who only make Sekt and (iii) winemakers, who make predominantly wine, but complement their wine selection by a few Sekts. The Sekts produced by large Sekt estates tend to be in the demy-sweet and sweet range, while the Sekts of smaller estates and the wine makers are mostly in the brut and extra brut range. In addition to Sekt, Germany produces semi-sparkling wine, which is called Perlwein. But the production of Perlwein is small.
See: Best German Sparkling Wine (Sekt): Meiningers Deutscher Sektpreis 2016, with Annette Schiller as Judge
Grosses Gewächs (GG)
We had 2 Grosses Gewächs (GG) wines, from the Mosel (Dr. Loosen) and the Rheingau (Schloss Johannisberg).
What is a VDP.Grosses Gewaechs? There is still a bit of confusion out there, as (1) Grosses Gewaechs (GG) is a term that was created by the VDP only a few years ago and (2) the VDP has established a new classification for German wines that differs radically from the German standard classification (and is still in the process of refining and implementing it). The latest revisions were those that came into effect with the vintage 2012.
Although many people think that there is only one wine classification system in Germany – the classification system of the Law of 1971 – this is not correct. True, the classification system of the Law of 1971 is the standard classification system in Germany and the vast majority of winemakers in Germany use this approach. A large number of winemakers, however, have moved away from the standard, in particular the VDP producers.
In a nutshell, the VDP is moving to a classification system that resembles very much the classification system in the Bourgogne. The classification of the VDP puts the terroir principle at the center of its classification approach.
With the latest modifications of 2012, the absolutely finest vineyards are called Grosse Lage (for the 2011 vintage still called Erste Lage) and dry wines from these super top vineyards are called Grosses Gewächs. Grosses Gewächs wines are the finest dry wines from Germany’s finest vineyards.
See also: The New Classification of German Wines: The VDP Classification - Annette Schiller Conducting a Seminar at the 2016 National Convention of the American Wine Society in Los Angeles, USA
Bocksbeutel from Franken
We had 2 Franken wines in the classic Bocksbeutel bottle, including a 2015 Silvaner from the Staatlicher Hofkeller in Würzburg.
See: Cellar Tour and Tasting at Staatlicher Hofkeller in Würzburg, Franken, with General Manager Marcel von den Benken– Germany-East Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Weingut St. Urbanshof Nik Weis
From Mosel star producer Nik Weis, we had 2 contrasting wines: an entry-level wine and a Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) wine at the Kabinett level. It was very interesting to compare these 2 wines that were at the opposite side of the quality and price spectrum. Both were excellent, taking into account the prices.
See: Tasting at Weingut St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen, Mosel, with Nik Weis – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Weingut Dr. Loosen
From Ernst Loosen, we also had 2 contrasting wines: We had a Weingut Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten GGReserve, an ultra-premium dry wine, and a Spätlese, a sweet wine, also from the Ürziger Würzgarten. Which one is more expensive? Of course the ultra-premium dry wine.
See: The Dry and Ultra-premium Dry GG and GG Reserve Rieslings of Weingut Dr. Loosen– Ernie Loosen in Washington DC.
See also: Wine Tasting at Weingut Dr. Loosen in Bernkastel-Kues, Mosel – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Weingut Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler
The most popular wine producer this year was Weingut Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler in Bernkastel-Kues, Mosel. Weingut Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler is not one of the 1000 producers listed in the Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland but its wines are quite popular in the Northern Virginia area as they are distributed through Total Beverages.
Aged Auslese
A very special wine was the graciously aged 1990 Weingut Josef Biffar Deidesheimer Grainhübel Auslese. Weingut Josef Biffar changed ownership a few years ago and is now run and owned by Fumiko Tokuoka from Japan.
See: Tour and Tasting at Weingut Josef Biffar, in Deidesheim, with Owner/ Winemaker Fumiko Tokuoka – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Austria
Two people brought Austrian wines, including a 2005 Weingut F.X. Pichler Riesling Smaragd Loibner Berg.
See: Vintage 2011 Tasting with Lucas Pichler, Weingut F.X. Pichler, with Dirk Wuertz at his Koenigsmuehle in Rheinhessen, Austria/Germany
Alsace
We had 3 Rieslings from Alsace, including an entry-level Trimbach Riesling.
See: At Maison Trimbach in Alsace with Hubert Trimbach – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Luxembourg
Carl Willner, President of the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter) did not bring a German wine, but a top wine from Luxembourg.
See: The Wines of Luxembourg– A Small Country Which Produces Great Wines
USA
We had 10 wines from the USA.
2010 Tierce Dry Riesling
The most interesting American wine was the 2010 Tierce Dry Riesling. This wine was served at President Obama's Inauguration Luncheon in 2013. See: The Wines and the Food at President Obama’s Inauguration Luncheon, January 21, 2013, USA
Tierce is a collaborative effort between three of the Finger Lakes' top winemakers, Peter Bell of Fox Run, Johannes Reinhardt of Anthony Road and David Whiting of Red Newt Cellars. Several years ago the three winemakers wondered if they could make a better wine together than any of them individually. In other words, could the whole be greater than the sum of its parts? So each year they make their own batches of dry Riesling and, when the three wines are ready, they get together on one day to taste dozens of different blends of the three wines until they arrive at the best. That wine is the Tierce of that year. "Tierce" means three, and the wine's back label reads, "Three vineyards, three winemakers, one wine." Tierce is a limited production wine, with only about 300 cases made in a given year, and is sold exclusively through the three wineries.
1985 Chateau St. Jean Johannisberg Riesling Select Late Harvest Sonoma Valley
This was another most interesting wine, dark brown in the glass with lots of elegance and dignity.
Canada
We had the chance to taste 2 Canadian wines.
See: Vancouver, the Olympic Winter Games and Canada’s Wine
After-Party with Wines from Bourgogne and Bordeaux
Some of us stayed on for an After-Party with Bourgogne and Bordeaux wines.
2005 Domaine Maurice Ecard Savigny-Les-Beaune Premier Cru Les Jarrons
1996 Louis Jadot 1er Cru Clos de Ursules Domaines des Héritiers
See: Burgundy (and Champagne) 2016 Tour by ombiasy WineTours: From Lyon to Reims - Wine, Food, Culture and History
2009 Les Pagodes de Cos Saint-Estèphe
1994 Château Beau Site (Rouge) Saint-Estèphe
See: Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
German Food Blogger Christie Dietz - A Sausage Has Two
This year, prominent German food blogger A Sausage Has Two (Seasonal, regional German food as explored by a British food writer in Riesling country: recipes, travel and restaurant tips, culinary traditions and more - Christie Dietz) was among the 90 guests.
Previous Riesling Parties at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Virginia
This was our fifth 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)
2016
2015
2014
2013
schiller-wine: Related Postings
The New Germany: Red, Sparkling and Dry - Tasting at the American Wine Society 2016 National Conference in Los Angeles, USA, led by Annette Schiller
Invitation: 2017 Annual Riesling Party at the Schillers in Virginia/ USA and 2017 Fall Wine Tours to Bordeaux & Germany South-Alsace
Tasting at the Legendary Weingut J.J. Prüm with Amei Prüm– Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016
Best German Sparkling Wine (Sekt): Meiningers Deutscher Sektpreis 2016, with Annette Schiller as Judge
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Staatlicher Hofkeller in Würzburg, Franken, with General Manager Marcel von den Benken– Germany-East Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen, Mosel, with Nik Weis – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
The Dry and Ultra-premium Dry GG and GG Reserve Rieslings of Weingut Dr. Loosen– Ernie Loosen in Washington DC.
Wine Tasting at Weingut Dr. Loosen in Bernkastel-Kues, Mosel – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Josef Biffar, in Deidesheim, with Owner/ Winemaker Fumiko Tokuoka – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Vintage 2011 Tasting with Lucas Pichler, Weingut F.X. Pichler, with Dirk Wuertz at his Koenigsmuehle in Rheinhessen, Austria/Germany
At Maison Trimbach in Alsace with Hubert Trimbach – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
The Wines of Luxembourg– A Small Country Which Produces Great Wines
The Wines and the Food at President Obama’s Inauguration Luncheon, January 21, 2013, USA
Vancouver, the Olympic Winter Games and Canada’s Wine
Burgundy (and Champagne) 2016 Tour by ombiasy WineTours: From Lyon to Reims - Wine, Food, Culture and History
Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France