URGENT NEWS: Please click here to read about a major threat to the Mosel
Weingut Markus Molitor
Haus Klosterberg
54470 Bernkastel-Wehlen
www.markusmolitor.com
Member - Bernkasteler-Ring
This winery sends wine to Britain, and are one of the biggest and - supposedly - best estates on the Mosel. They are famous for acheiving spectacularly high prices for their top wines (especially Eiswein) at auction - prices often reach several thousand Euros per bottle, and while these are simply beyond my reach, they also produce a large number of more affordable wines. Delivery to Britiain costs €16 for a case of up to 18 bottles.
2005 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese €14.50
This wine is visually indistiguishable from the much more expensive auction Spätlese except by the AP No.
Pale Gold. Slightly better nose than the audtion wine below, and is slightly better overall with better fruity complexity - mainly red fruit. Perhaps slightly better acidity, natural again, thankfully. I'm not sure if there's much botyrtis in this wine - if there is it isn't showing yet. Quite rich and sweet.
17/20 Surprisingly better than the auction Spätlese below.
2005 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese €42.70 - auction wine
This wine is visually indistiguishable from the non-auction Spätlese except by the AP No.
Pale Gold. Poor nose. Not especially complex or refined, fairly rich with moderate fruit. Competent but not outstanding. The acidity is rather soft, but not too low, and thankfully it is natural, not artificial. There's probably quite a bit of botrytis in this wine, but it isn't showing yet.
May improve for a few years.
16/20 Very disappointing, especially considering the price.
2005 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese*** €52.00
Alc. 7.5%
Mid Gold. Rather good nose with a lot of fruit. Very rich, with excellent - almost overwhelming - fruit on the palate, and an extremely long finish. However the acidity is a bit low, but not too much, and I'm sure it's natural, thankfully. The fruit is simply stunning.
There's a lot of botrytis in this wine, but it isn't anywhere near to fully showing yet. Depending on how vivid you like the honeyed tones of botrytis, this wine will improve for 2-10 years yet.
18/20 If the acidity had been slightly higher, but still natural, the score would have been at least 19
2005 Zeltinger Deutschherrenberg Riesling Auslese** €23.50
Alc. 7.5%
Mid gold. Unimpressive nose at first; this rapidly clears to leave a slightly flowery nose. Very impressive on the palate, with excellent acidity (probably natural), richness, and complexity of both fruit and minerality. I could easily have mistaken this for an Ürziger Würzgarten wine, in fact, though it is rather full-bodied for a Mosel, typical of Zeltinger wines. Some years ago the vineyard known as Zeltinger Deutschherrenberg was situated on the less-favoured bank of the river opposite the village: there hasn't been any vines there for several years now, and I think that this name is now used for the wines from the top part of Zeltinger Sonnenuhr.
Will improve for 3-5 years, and last for at least another five.
18/20
2004 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese €14.90
alc. 7.5%
Tasted Feb. 2009
Pale gold with hints of green. Rich, fruity and acidic on the nose. This wine is almost certainly of legal auslese ripeness. Superb natural acidity and fruit on the palate with an excellent balance, good concentration and fairly good complexity make this a very elegant wine. This is a very refreshing change after drinking a number of wines with artificially enhanced acidity. I very much like the low alcohol level.
Will improve for 3-5 years, and last for at least ten years.
18/20
2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese €14.50
Alc. 8%
Tasted Feb. 2009
Pale gold. Somewhat unimpressive nose at first; this clears after a minute or two. Very rich with surprisingly good natural acidity for the vintage. A very good balance with masses of fruit, richness, and fairly good complexity, this is again an auslese in all but name.
Probably at it's best now, but will last for at least another 5 years.
18/20
2001 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Auslese* €20.50
Alc. 7.5%
Tasted Feb 2009
Poor nose at first - this appears to be a characteristic of this winery, at least at this price level. It does improve after a couple of minutes. This wine is fully mature, and isn't quite as sweet, rich, fruity, or complex as I'd have liked. The acidity is fairly high, but not as high as I was expecting. Overall, this wine isn't all that different to the 2004 Erdener Treppchen Spätlese and 2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese above, but not as good as those. It's very pleasant, but not all that special. This may be due to the fact that this vineyard is not generally considered to be best of those in Zeltingen.
16/20