Wine for Your Oktoberfest?

Even though I never saw anything but beer when I was in Munich (20 years ago to the month!) for Oktoberfest, since we are celebrating, why not pour some wine, too? The question posed to me from my girlfriend, Lori, was what German wine should she serve at her Oktoberfest party. Great question, and it got me thinking about the German and German-style wines I enjoy.
Here's a wine that is German-like even though it's made in Alsace, France. Trimbach is a reliable producer of Rieslings, and they are dry ones which I like. It's also fun to have Gewurtraminer, a really different white wine that is packed with rich, spicy flavor. I’d try either a French or German producer for the Gewurtz. If you do try to buy a German wine for a Riesling, look for the word Kabinett along with the word Trocken, which would mean it's a little dryer. Unless you're going for a sweet Riesling, in which case Halbtrocken. The sweetest Riesling dessert wines are pricey: Auslese, Spatlese, and Beerenauslese. If you check the alcohol content that will also clue you into the sweetness: around 12 shouldn't be very sweet, lower is sweeter. Prost!

Women for Winesense at Passione

I just joined Women for Winesense and attended my first event last week, a four-course wine dinner at Passione in Montclair, NJ. I heard about this group previously but had a bit of trouble locating them until Manoavino posted their event. I was pleased (and a little surprised) to discover that this was a snob-free gathering of gregarious bon vivants. The dinner was held in a private room and we had several tables pushed together so we made a big rectangle of 17 wine lovers—lots of lovely ladies (and a few gents) of various ages and levels of wine knowledge.
The group is all about education, and that night we had full paragraph descriptions of all of the five wines we tried, as well as a little oral presentation on all of them. I appreciated that one wine was from a variety I’d never tried, the rolle grape.
Dinner was very nice, although I’d say the start--a rich squash bisque with pancetta--and the finish-- apple torte with praline ice cream--were the highlights. Best wine of the night? I really enjoyed the Bordeaux poured with our main course, Chateau Tour Marcillanet Haut-Medoc Cru Bourgeois. However, we also sipped a lovely Trimbach Gewurtraminer from Alsace, and the memory of its tangy, full bodied flavor remained with me the next day.
WWS gets together about once a month except for a summer break. You don’t have to be a member to attend. I’m looking forward to more lovely evenings in the company of fellow wine lovers. Salut!