German Wine Society Members and Friends of German Wine,
It is a pleasure to announce that the German Embassy has invited us once again to hold our Oktober Weinfest celebration at the German Embassy House! For this event, we will once again be enjoying the cuisine of the German Embassy’s new chef, Mikko Kosenen of Mikko Nordic Fine Foods, who also operates a restaurant in Washington, D.C., and was formerly executive chef for the Ambassador of Finland. And we will be enjoying twelve different German wines, including sparkling, red, non-Riesling dry white, GG Riesling, and Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese Riesling wines. Please plan to join us to share our love of German wine, at the German Embassy where the German Wine Society began 47 years ago.
Our “Oktober Weinfest” celebrates the fall harvest season and is being held on the eve of the famed Munich Oktoberfest in Germany., which runs this year from September 21 through October 6. Oktober Weinfest will take place on the evening of Friday, September 20, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm at the Embassy House of the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., with admission to the Embassy beginning at 6:00 pm. Below are all the details you will need about the wines, food, registration, payment and getting to the event.
Registration for this event must be received by Monday, September 16, 2024.
You can register and pay for events in either of two ways.
First, you can register on our Washington, D.C. chapter website, https://germanwinesocietydc.org , and make payment by PayPal. You will need to create a GWS account for the website if you do not already have one, and you will also need to have a PayPal account. If you are coming as a couple or other group, you can either register and pay for each individual separately, or do it as part of a single transaction and complete the payment on PayPal together. If you do a single transaction, please also email the Secretary of the GWS Capital Chapter at the address below to provide the names of each individual coming, as we will need a complete list of all attendee names in advance for Embassy security.
Second, if you prefer to register by mail and pay by check for the event, please clip off the registration form attached to this notice, indicate the names of all who will be attending, and mail a check made out to the German Wine Society in the proper amount along with the form to:
Carl Willner
President and Secretary, GWS Capital Chapter
1014 Reserve Champion Drive Rockville, MD 20850
You can also reach the Secretary by e-mail at carl.willner1@verizon.net .
Whether you are registering by mail or online, please be sure to provide the names of all persons for whom you are registering, and pay the appropriate price depending on whether each person is a member of the German Wine Society (either the Capital Chapter, or one of the other active chapters in the U.S. or an at-large member with annual dues paid), or a non-member. You can join the GWS Capital Chapter either by using the website and registering to pay annual dues of $35 through PayPal, or by mail using a check, in the same manner as registering for the event. If you have been a member of the GWS Capital Chapter in the past but are not sure of your current membership status, please email the chapter Secretary at the above e-mail to confirm your status.
Here’s what we have planned for our Oktober Weinfest:
September 20, 6:00 pm (entry to Embassy compound passing through security beginning 6 pm): Reception and wine dinner at the German Embassy House. Enter at the main Embassy gate on 4645 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007, and proceed up the stairway alongside the main Embassy building depicted here to the Embassy House on the upper level. For those who have difficulty ascending the stairs, escorts from the Embassy staff can bring guests through the Embassy building and up an elevator.
For security purposes, the Embassy requires a list of all attendees in advance; no walk-ins are allowed. Please remember to bring a valid picture ID. There is no parking available on Embassy grounds, but it should not be difficult at this time of day to find parking on the street nearby if you are driving. Be alert, however, to DC parking restrictions. The German Embassy is not near a Metro subway stop, but it is also possible to arrive by Metro bus (D6 to Foxhall Rd.) or by taxi/ride service.
Our Oktober Weinfest will feature twelve German wines, representing four wine regions (Mosel, Nahe, Franken, and Baden) and five grapes (Riesling, Silvaner, Grauburgunder, Pinot Noir and Pinot Nero). The wines featured in the dinner are from the 2021, 2022, and the newest 2023 vintages – and most of the 2022 wines differ from the ones in that vintage that were served in our New Vintage tasting earlier this year, completing the picture of this excellent vintage. We will begin with a sekt reception on the patio (weather permitting) and followed by a seated buffet dinner inside the Embassy House, with a main and dessert course and five flights of wines.
6:00pm Welcoming menu: hors d’ oeuvres + Sparkling wine served at Patio
Gravlax on Rye Bread
Spinach Goat Cheese Quiche
Seared Tuna on Bagel Chips with Wasabi and Soy Glaze
Chicken Salad Wheel
These hors d’oeuvres will be accompanied by the following sparkling wine:
Nv Dr. Wagner Riesling Sekt Brut Mosel (Saar)
7:00pm Dinner Buffet: inside cantina
House Smoked Salmon with Tartar Sauce
Mustard Shrimp Salad
Assortment of Sausages and Condiments
Sauerkraut
Mini Chicken Schnitzel with Lemon-Caper Butter Sauce
Roasted Vegetables
German Potato Salad
Caesar Salad with Tomato
Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberry Demi-glace
Pretzels with Cheese Dip
Assortment of Bread/Butter
These dishes will be served with four flights of wines as follows:
Red Wines
2022 Enderle & Moll Pinot Noir Baden and 2021 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Rotwein (Pinot Noir/Pinot Nero blend) Trocken #10 Mosel
Trocken (Dry) Non-Riesling White Wines
2021 Max Müller Silvaner Trocken Franken and 2022 Dönnhoff Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) Trocken Nahe
Grosses Gewächs (GG) Riesling White Wines
2022 Dönnhoff Felsenberg Riesling GG Nahe and 2022 Peter Lauer Schonfels Riesling GG Fass 11 Mosel
Kabinett Riesling White Wines
2021 Thanisch Erben Thanisch Dr. H Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Kabinett Mosel and 2022 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Mosel
Dessert buffet:
Apple Tart with Calvados Cream
Elderflower Panna Cotta with Caramel Sauce
Rhubarb Sour Cream Tart
These dishes will be served with a flight of three sweet Riesling wines:
2022 A.J. Adam Dhron Hofberg Riesling Spätlese Mosel 2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Spätlese #24 Fuder Mammen Mosel and 2022 Thomas Haag Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese GK Mosel
Coffee and Tea service at end, with bottled still and sparkling water provided at tables
We anticipate being joined by members of the German Embassy staff. Please take the opportunity to mingle with them and share your interests in German wines and Germany!
The price for this event will be $148 for members, and $158 for non-members. There will be a 60-person limit on attendance at this event, including Embassy guests, so reserve soon to avoid disappointment.
For this event, we are no longer requiring that guests provide proof of vaccination against covid-19, or wear masks when arriving. We do encourage our members and guests, however, to be up to date in vaccinations, and request that if you contract covid-19 or another communicable illness, or test positive for covid-19, you refrain from attending the event and protect the health of others. We can refund payments if you notify us that you are not able to attend the event for this reason prior to the start of the event.
All GWS members and guests are reminded that alcohol consumption can lead to intoxication. Members and guests should use public transportation to events, rely on a designated driver, or taste the wines rather than finish them.
The event coordinator for the Oktober Weinfest is Carl Willner, Capital Chapter President and Secretary, and National Vice President and Secretary. Please send any questions to Carl at carl.willner1@verizon.net .
We look forward to seeing you for our Oktober Weinfest!
Please check our Capital Chapter website and register soon.
If registering by mail, please fill out and cut the reservation form below with your check – do not mail the entire notice.
REGISTRATION FORM FOR GERMAN WINE SOCIETY OKTOBER WEINFEST EVENT ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 AT THE GERMAN EMBASSY
$148.00 Members / $158.00 Non-Member Guests