Decided to start a thread on Rieslingfeier 2027. I of course have attended every single one and the majority of the side events. Decided to post a thread here to capture all of the events and to answer any questions anyone might have.
In addition to the main event and walk around tasting there will be several dinners and related events. On Thursday Felix and Bella Keller will be bringing Bella’s wine bar to NYC for an event at Noreetuh. I am hearing rumors of at least one if not two Falkenstein dinners. I will update the thread as I learn more…my only advice is to buy tickets immediately for the main and side events because these will sell out fast!!! Fire away with any questions.
It’s an impressive list of producers, and six of the sixteen attended the last Rieslingfeier. Keller seems to be at every one. Has Wittmann ever been to Rieslingfeier? What about Schätzel or Georg Breuer?
Keller is by the far the biggest draw. The domain certainly does not need to come my guess is they do it to support German wine. I would say close to 50% of the wines brought last year were Keller. Egon Müller is also a big draw and I think has come every year except one when they were harvesting their Australian project and far more than the Keller estate. Falkenstein is also big draw and it is great that you are once again part of it.
The Schätzels will be in NYC next week for Karakterre. They are on their way to San Fran now and will also be hitting Chicago. I am doing a wine salon dinner for them at LEI Wine on October 24th.
Called Rieslingfeier headquarters and they are finalizing pricing based on the final list of sponsors. I think last year was around $500. For what it is worth I probably drank $10,000+ worth of wine. Everything from 70s era Egon Müller TBA to multiple bottles of G-Max. And just to be absolutely crystal clear you don’t have to bring bottles like this. The Domains are VERY generous.
Hot off the presses!!! I will be doing my post-Feier Rieslingstudy at @NikitaSSmithereens!!! Last year’s Sunday lunch was a wonderful way to keep the Feier going. There were lots of leftovers from the Gala and many people who could not get tickets came to the lunch. It will be super casual.
I will let others comment as well as I am biased. The walk around tasting is a great way to taste current release wines from all of the producers present at the Gala. Some producers will have a special bottle or two to try. It is impossible to taste all wines in the time allotted so I usually focus on getting a read on the current vintage and/or tasting from producers I don’t know well. It is moderately crowded, the RF crew staggers your time window and has done their best to make it manageable.
The main event is an insane opportunity to try many great wines. I typically bring 12 or so wines dating back to the 40s or 50s. The producers are very generous as are all of the guests. There is quite a range of wines brought and no one looks down on any particular level of wine. Like La Paulee you do have to make tough choices and pass on some wines. I know this might sound absurd but I always eat before. This is my Super Bowl so I load up on carbs! Lastly I will say the producers are genuinely amazed that an event like this is held to celebrate German wine and they are so appreciative / humble.
