The Art Marketer

Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours: Germany - East Introduction

OMBIASY PUBLIC RELATIONS & WINE TOURS

is gearing up for their first major tour of the Season

 

Germany East 2015 - Introduction

Experience an amazing journey of Wine and Art

 

 

Germany East 2015 - INTRODUCTION

WINE and ART

GERMANY’S UNDISCOVERED WINE REGIONS & WORLD-RENOWNED ART CENTERS :

The Eastern Tour

10 day immersion in Wine, Culture, The Arts 

June 11, 2015 – June 20, 2015

 

 

This tour allows wine lovers and aficionados of the arts to experience what the statement “wine is a form of art” entails. Participants will live the profound relationship between wine, music, dance, and visual arts by visiting Germany’s beautiful, lesser known wine regions, and the region which is the cradle of German culture, and intellectual thinking.

Meet winemakers who embody the "wine and art" approach right at their wineries, and attend three world-class concert-opera- and ballet performances in East-and Middle Germany.

This tour will tickle all of your senses and emotions. 

 

 

Here's What to Expect

 

• Visit a total of 19 wineries (16 are members of the VDP, the German association of elite wine makers) in 5 different wine regions:

Saale-Unstrut, the northernmost German wine region and former GDR territory. It is situated on the hillsides lining the Saale and Unstrut rivers and produces racy white wines from many white grape varieties;

Sachsen, also located in the former GDR, is the easternmost German wine region and extends some 35 miles north and south of Dresden along the Elbe river. This region tickles all your senses with its unique voluptuous baroque architecture, a rich history, its wealth of art, and love of all the good things in life;

Franken with its Bavarian charm and gorgeous, crisp, crystal clear wines from their signature grape Silvaner;

Württemberg, Germany’s premier red wine region with hearty, bold wines made from grapes like Lemberger (Blaufränkisch in Austria), and Trollinger. This is the region where wine is ingrained in daily life like nowhere else. The Württemberg region has the highest per capita consumption of wine in Germany; 

Hessische Bergstrasse, the smallest wine region in Germany with quaint little towns and villages right at the doorsteps of Frankfurt.

 

• Experience intimate insights into a selection of Germany’s best of the best wineries, normally not open to visitors.
• Learn how to read the label on German wine bottles.
• Get to know the classification of German wines including the new VDP classification.
• Explore why wine from the same vineyard can be sweet or dry.
• Enjoy excellent, typical German meals at great restaurant, historical places, and at the wineries with the owner/winemaker.
• Bump into German history and culture at every turn of our trip.
• Visit wineries where visual arts play an integral part.
• Hear eye witness accounts of recent German history worthy of a spy thriller: from the GDR to reunified Germany.
• Visit Leipzig and Dresden, for many centuries Europe’s cultural and intellectual centers and nowadays again - after surviving almost 50 years under communist rule - a stronghold of European culture. 
• Experience three world-class performances: a concert in the Gewandhaus Leipzig, an opera in the Semperoper Dresden, a ballet in the Stuttgart Ballet Theatre.
• Get the inside track and indulge in art and culture. 
  

 

For an even more detailed itinerary of this tour, click on: Schiller Wine Blog.

 

A Brief History

Germany with its roughly 250,000 acres under vine belongs today to one of the smaller wine producing countries in the world. However, viticulture in Germany has a long tradition, going back to Roman times 2,000 years ago.

In the 15th century, the area under vine was four times larger than it is today. Wars, subsequent loss of territory, diseases, overproduction, and competition from beer brewing resulted in land turned over to other agricultural uses.

In the 19th century, concentration on terroir and technological progress fostered a tremendous improvement of quality and the prestige of German wines, in particular from the Mosel, Rheingau, and Pfalz regions, resulting in prices above those for first growth Bordeaux wines.

Today, all thirteen wine regions in Germany produce outstanding wines. However, the two regions in the former GDR had a lot of catching up to do. During the communist times from 1945 until reunification in 1989, wine production was nationalized, and winemaking took place in huge VEB (volkseigener Betrieb / company owned by the people) wineries. The output, the bottle count was imposed on the VEB by the State, and therefore quality could not play a major role. The winemaking process was deprived of modern farming and cellar techniques. The majority of wine produced was for the consumption of the communist party members.

After the iron curtain came down, family wineries were founded, and the winemakers pursued quality with a vengeance. Some of Germany’s finest Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris today come from the Saale-Unstrut and Sachsen regions.

 

This will be an unforgettable journey discovering the German wine country off the beaten tourist track: the inside guide to top German wines, history and extraordinary cultural highlights! 
 

 

 

 

 

For more more information please visit: https://ombiasypr.com/

Or email: [email protected]

On Facebook: Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours

Schiller-Wine Blog: http://schiller-wine.blogspot.de/

On The Art Marketer

 

OMBIASY PUBLIC RELATIONS AND WINE TOURS

 

 

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.

 

 

EARLY BEGINNINGS:

The Seeds are Planted

Annette Schiller first became intrigued with wine back in her days as a student at the University of Mainz. Mainz is one of the 10 Wine Capitals of the World and Annette quickly realized that in this city, wine is ubiquitous. Students crank wine spritzers; the university offered classes in wine with accompanying tastings; and every other week there was a wine festival downtown. It was here also, that Annette met her husband, Christian, and their shared passion for wine soon became a keystone of their life together.

The Schillers were curious about all aspects of wine and wine-making. They took evening wine classes, worked in the vineyards during harvest season, and spent their weekends exploring the thousands of wineries in the surrounding countryside, tasting great wines right at the source. The Schillers immersed themselves in learning every aspect of the winemaking process from understanding how the outcome of the combination of nature and production techniques play a significant role in the taste, smells and flavour of each variety; to learning the different grape varietals, terroir and soils, as well as the production aspects in the vineyard, not to mention the vinification processes. But, they didn’t end their education with those details. They also learned the role wine has played in history and politics, and, of course, its inherent links to the culinary arts.

They were hooked!

 

NURTURING THOSE EARLY SEEDS OF INTEREST:

The Schillers lived in Germany and France for extended periods of time travelling the regions, tasting the wines, developing close friendships with wine estate owners as they continued to indulge in the passion of learning, immersing, exploring and tasting wine from all over the world. What started out as a passion quickly became a lifestyle and is now a vocation.

 

A BUSINESS IS BORN

After thirty-five years of their own travels, friends of the Schillers from their student wine days asked them to organize a tour of Bordeaux. And so a new chapter in their adventures began in 2011 with their first Bordeaux wine tour for the Hochheimer Wine Brotherhood. The tour proved to be such a success that the business grew to include other tours throughout Germany and France.

 

 

THE BUSINESS TODAY

These days, Ombiasy Public Relations & Wine Tours offers a growing number of tours, tasting, wine-pairings dinners and wine talks both in the United States and abroad. 

 

Following is just a sampling of current offerings provided by Ombiasy: 

 

• Expert, all-inclusive tours to wine regions in France and Germany. In Germany Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours are the pioneers of the concept to visit all 13 German wine regions with international wine friends.

• Custom tailored tours to wine regions in France, Germany, and other wine regions around the world.

• Planning and implementation of wine pairing dinners in the Washington DC area and Germany for wineries / châteaux.

• Educational presentations on the wines of France and Germany (with and without accompanying tastings).

• Conceptualization and organization of promotional events for the food and beverage industry.

 

 

Ombiasy Wine Tours have the benefit of offering tours in areas the Schillers know best, in countries where they lived, and like the first wine tour they arranged for their friends, the Schillers plan each tour designed around sharing their passion, their network within the wine community, and their in-depth knowledge of the wine regions they know best and feel most at home with their fellow participants throughout France and Germany. Specific tours have also combined their love of wine with their love of food, art and theatre, depending on the area they are visiting.

 

 

WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU TRAVEL WITH OMBIASY PR:

• Guidance and instruction throughout the trip by Annette and Christian Schiller, a husband and wife team. The Schillers are both wine enthusiasts, seasoned wine tasters and wine educators, and know the wine regions in France and Germany like the back of their hands - they lived there for many years! They are fluent in English, German, and French, and are experienced travellers. When you do a tour with Ombiasy Wine Tours you never get a paid guide, you always travel with the Schillers.
• Ombiasy always travels in a small group to make the experience more like traveling with friends, and to get a better and more intimate look at the behind the scenes of the wineries / châteaux.
• Travel in the wine regions by luxury air-conditioned motor coach.
• Accommodation in 3-star, 4-star, or 5-star hotels depending on availability in the regions, including breakfast buffets. Wine regions in Europe are for the most part pretty rural and the availability of standard international hotel chains is very limited. Where international hotels are not available, Ombiasy always choose charming, family-run boutique hotels, typical of the region. Very often those hotels are in historic buildings, where strict building codes apply that make any standardization impossible. All hotels are categorized by the government and the amenities correspond to the star system. However in some of the smaller hotels room sizes vary, elevators are impossible to install, and internet connections are shaky.  
• Restaurants are as carefully chosen as the vineyards and range from gourmet restaurants to local cafes typical to the region. Guests get as much a feel for regional specialities as they do for the area’s wines.
• Ombiasy wine tours include wine pairing lunches and dinners right at the wineries / châteaux with the owners or winemakers. You will enjoy gourmet and regional food, deliciously matched to the wines served which include older vintages. Dining as a private guest at a renowned winery or Bordeaux château is one of the ultimate experiences that you can have that is not usually open to the independent traveller.
• Access to wine estates normally not open to visitors.
• Expert wine tastings at top wine estates and châteaux as well as barrel tastings, vertikal tasting, etc. depending on availability.
• You will meet the owners and winemakers and are treated to private tastings with them. Since they are friends of the Schillers - you get the privileged access!
• Guided city tours and sightseeing tours of spectacular historical sites.
• You will receive a personal, authentic experience and total immersion in the particular wine region.
• The "INSIDE TRACK"!!

 

 

 

2015 TOURS

 

Germany East Introduction – Wine & Art:

Germany’s Undiscovered Wine Regions and World Renowned Art Centers: The Eastern Tour

10 day immersion in wine, culture the arts:  June 11, 2015 – June 20, 2015

This 10 day tour allows wine lovers and art aficionados to experience what the statement “wine is a form of art” entails. Participants will live the profound relationship between wine, music, dance and the visual arts by visiting Germany’s beautiful wine regions in the East and the cradle of German intellectual thinking. Visit 19 wineries, among them wineries that embody the wine and art approach; attend performances at the Gewandhaus Leipzig; Semperopera; and Stuttgart Ballet.

 

 

Germany South Introduction – Wine & Food:

Pinot Country and Michelin-Star Meals: The Southern Tour

 7 day immersion: August 30, 2015 – September 05, 2015

This 7 day tour takes participants to the southernmost German wine regions where you will experience the German red wine revolution, in particular gorgeous Pinot-Noirs. You will visit 16 wineries, among them Germany’s unconventional but exceptionally gifted winemakers. This tour has a strong culinary component reflecting this region’s historic affinity with good food, and its proximity to culinary Alsace in France across the Rhine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany North Introduction - Riesling Country

Quintessential German Rieslings and the Northern most Pinot Noir: The Northern Tour

 7 day immersion: September 06, 2015 – September 12, 2015

This 7 day tour lets participants explore the regions that are quintessential to understanding “Riesling”. You will visit 18 wineries and many cultural gems. The tour includes a cruise on the romantic Rhine River with its castle-and-vine ribboned banks; the Mosel valley with its dizzying steep vineyards; delving into 2000 years of history; and tasting first class wines at world-renowned wine estates.

 

 

Bordeaux 2015: Quintessential Bordeaux

10 day immersion: September 15, 2015 – September 24, 2015

Spend 10 days in Bordeaux! “Bordeaux” embodies more than just wine. In France the interplay of wine and food is very important and plays an integral part of the journey through the Bordeaux wine region. The tour focuses on top ranking classified Chateaux, but visits to unknown, excellent and very charming producers are also included. Drawing on the Schiller’s love and deep knowledge of the region as well as their personal ties to many of the players in the Bordeaux wine scene, you will visit many of the hidden gems that other tours pass by, but which are essential to understanding what Bordeaux is all about. This is a hands-on Bordeaux wine class on the ground.

 

 

Here's what some of their fans are saying about them:

"Thank you for setting up such a tremendous Bordeaux Wine tour. I cannot believe that you were able to get our small group of 13 people into the very special wineries …plus they really treated you (and us) as Royalty with the special tours, talks, and great meals. The places you selected spent much much time with us, like the 4 hour lunch and tasting of 15 of their wines. Annette, you did a great job of infusing history, meals, as well as the top selection of wines. You balanced costs with having us stay close to the places we were visiting.

We highly recommend your tour. On a scale of 1-10, your tour is a 15!"

Vicky and Bruce Ballantyne (Bordeaux Tour)

 

"In 2013 my wife and I joined Annette Schiller and her husband, Christian, for her Bordeaux wine tour and had a wonderful time. Annette's tours are top-notch, well organized and lots of fun. Annette is fluent in French, English, and German, her mother language. Our best experience? Our stay in the town of Saint-Emilion, and the City of Bordeaux, both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Saint-Emilion with its Romanesque churches and famous for its Merlot based wines. We very much enjoyed the excellent food and top wines from renowned wine makers.

We highly recommend this tour for wine lovers of French wines.

In 2016 we plan to join Annette again for another round of her terrific Bordeaux wine tour."

 Gisela and Ray Leon (Bordeaux Tour)

 

"I joined the German tours in both 2013 and 2014 as I love both Germany and German wines. As I knew that dry German white wines are becoming more available in the U.S., I wanted to learn more about these and the new VDP classification system. From the superb visits I learned so much about these topics and really appreciated the great "grand cru" German Rieslings. In addition, being a Red Burgundy lover, I was fascinated with the top Pinot producers on the Southern German trip in 2014, and found many which were as enthralling as top Burgundies. Annette's organization of the tours was excellent, and I look forward to the 2015 tours".    

Brian Thomas (Germany north and Germany south tours)

 

 "I am a wine lover who took the Bordeaux wine country tour in September 2013. I had always been intrigued by Bordeaux and wanted a structured approach to exploring the region. Annette and Christian Schiller were excellent guides: remarkably knowledgable about the wines, vineyards and winemakers; talented transmitters of information; very caring; fun to be with. I tasted a great variety of red and white wines and enjoyed amazing food.

I cannot say enough about this wine tour and recommend it highly." 

Stephen Kent (Bordeaux Tour)

 

" As a wine lover with a reasonable knowledge of German wine (I have been a member of the German Wine Society since 1986) I had always wanted to visit German wineries. In September 2014 I took the northern and southern German wine country tours led by Annette Schiller. Our small group visited a total of 36 wineries (many hidden gems bypassed by other tours) in 9 different regions. Annette is a lively speaker with a deep knowledge and love of German wines and culture. We also greatly benefited from her close personal ties to the winemakers and owners visited.

I have nothing but great memories of my German wine experience. Thank you Annette."

Stephen Kent (Germany north and Germany south tours)  

 

 

 

"I have traveled on many wine trips, often with highly qualified locals who know the wines of their region and the local producers very well. I would put Annette in the very top tier of wine travel organizers. She knows well and fully understands the regions and producers of Germany. Her trips were perfectly organized and carefully planned. While it was a high energy undertaking, the good news is no time is wasted and there is room made in the action-packed schedule for the occasional historically or culturally significant place. An added benefit is Annette's charming husband, Christian. A wine blogger and dedicated foodie, he added another fun dimension to the trip. Their driver is a great guy, and almost every participant was someone I would gladly travel with again. My advice is do these trips if you are serious about understanding German wines. "

Ellen Kirsh (Germany north and Germany south tours)

 

"Everything about the Bordeaux trip - the wineries, the wines, the meals, the travel arrangements -was great. This is all due to Annette Schiller’s extensive knowledge of, and contacts in, the region. One could not ask for a better guide to Bordeaux wine and culture. The group benefitted greatly from Annette’s relationships with many of the vintners. Annette and the vintners taught us much about the terroir and the all the steps in the process that makes these great wines, as well as the foods with which to enjoy them. Moreover, given differences among vinters over some of the steps in the process - e.g., hand vs machine picking, use of pesticides, etc. - the group experienced an on-going debate as we travelled from one winery to the next. The openness of the vintners to our questions further personalized the experience that stemmed from Annette’s meticulous preparation of the journey. We are grateful to have had this experience and highly recommend it to anyone with a love of wine, regardless of the extent of their knowledge."

Anne and John Parisi (Bordeaux Tour)

  

 

For more information please visit: www.ombiasypr.com

or email: [email protected].

Visit them on Facebook: Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours

 

 

 

About Dr. Christian G. E. Schiller

Christian Schiller lives in the greater Washington DC (US) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) areas and writes about wine. He is a member of the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers). Before starting to write about wine in 2009, Schiller was an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Click on the following link to read his blog:

Schiller-Wine Blog: http://schiller-wine.blogspot.de/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE: Wine Tasting & Art Exhibit

 

 

A road trip to Rockville, Maryland reunited me with my artist friend and client, Susan Levin.

 

On a recent flight back from Europe, Levin had the unique opportunity of meeting and befriending, Annette Schiller, a principal with Ombiasy Public Relations and Wine Tours.

 

 

 

Susan put me in touch with Annette,

who had the brilliant idea of creating a

‘Wine Tasting & Art Exhibit’

showcasing Susan’s work in collaboration with a wine tasting event.

 

 

 

 

The ‘invitation only’ event took place in the privacy of Levin’s lovely home, studio and gallery space. Guests were asked to bring a bottle of Pinot (Gris or Noir). The stage was set for a perfect marriage of wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and art in an elegant gallery setting overlooking the beautiful setting of Rockville, Maryland.

 

 

 

The event brought together wine lovers and art aficionados from all three of our guest lists, facilitating new friendships, collaborations and ideas for other upcoming events.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Bravo!

                                                                               

    

 ______________________________________

 

 

ART BY SUSAN LEVIN
As a painter and digital photographer, Susan Levin works hard to create pieces that evoke emotion and conversation. While her paintings and photographs are an expression of her moods, they are also an abstract interpretation of real life experiences. Levin interprets her dreams and often paints what she dreams. She embellishes her photos with the use of the computer.

Creating new work is a form of playing and designing what is often clearly before her eyes and sometimes what is simply perceived through the lens. It is that combination of being acutely aware and having the ability to clarify what is right before her that makes Levin passionate about art and love what she does.

 

For more information:  Susan Levin Art: artbysusanlevin.com

 

___________________

OMBIASY PR & WINE TOURS

 

photo (of Annette Schiller) courtesy of Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours

Wine: Annette Schiller

Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours offer:

• Expert, all-inclusive tours to wine regions in France and Germany. In Germany, Annette & Christian Schiller of Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours are the pioneers of the concept to visit all 13 German wine regions with international wine friends.

• Custom tailored tours to wine regions in France, Germany, and other wine regions around the world

• Planning and implementation of wine pairing dinners in the Washington DC area and Germany for wineries / châteaux.

• Educational presentations on the wines of France and Germany (with and without accompanying tastings).

• Conceptualization and organization of promotional events for the food and beverage industry.

Wine Tours in 2015
France: Bourgogne (May) and Bordeaux (September) Germany: Germany-East (June), Germany-South (September) and Germany-North (September)

For more information: Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours: https://ombiasypr.com/

 

 

 photo courtesy of Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours