- A Genius Sprung Forth from the Head of Zeus
- Making Elite, Top Scoring Wines from 3 Distinct Regions
- 140 -200 Bottlings Each Year
- Revered Among German Winemakers
- A Legend in His Own Time
- Took Over a Tiny Winery at Age 20...
- And Turned It into a Dominant Force in German Winemaking
- Wines from All of the Great Mosel Vineyards
- Top 5 Producer in Germany for Dry Riesling, Sweet Riesling, Off-Dry Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc
2018 Scores (Wine Advocate - Stephan Reinhardt)
- 100 Points - 2 Wines
- 99 Points - 6 Wines
- 98+ Points - 2 Wines
- 98 Points - 7 Wines
- 97+ Points - 3 Wines
- 97 Points - 4 Wines
- 96+ Points - 4 Wines
- 96 Points - 8 Wine
- 94/95+ Points - 22 Wines
The Style
- Brilliant Almost Supra-Realistic Precision
- Brisset, Roulot, Roumier, Keller
- As Elite and Refined as Any Wines on Earth
- So Powerful, Yet So Graceful
2018 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese (White Cap)
- Superb Aromatics
- Jump Out with their Purity and Clarity
- Gorgeous Green Apple
- Huge Slate
- Hint of Creaminess
- Lemon, Hint of Honeysuckle
- Heavenly Slate and Confectionary Aromas
- So Expansive and Elite
- The White Capsule Always Means Dry (Trocken) at Molitor
- Palate: Brilliant
- Sleek, Delicate, Finesse-Driven and Deep
- Balance is Absolutely Perfect
- Perfect Linearity Flavors
- Crisp Apples
- Chewy and Dense but Ethereal and Nimble
- Huge Mineral Complexity
- Shimmering
- Complex and Wondrous
- Sick, Sick Texture
Markus Molitor is my white whale and I have finally caught him. Of course we all know the relentlessness and obsession of Captain Ahab with Moby Dick, the great white whale. I've been trying to sell these wines for almost a decade (since before we opened) and fortunately for all of us, my refusal to take no for an answer has finally paid off.
The wait has been worth it because what I've been tasting this last week has almost dislodged me from this timeline. The wines are so good they take you out of whatever you are doing and you exist just with the beauty of the wine.
Because they are beautiful... that's the word I'm going to use.
Beautiful is the perfect word to describe the Rieslings of Markus Molitor.
And after 9+ years, we finally got them.
The Style
When one opens a bottle of Markus Molitor's Rieslings, time stops, and you are mesmerized. These Riesling are as elite and refined as any wines on Earth. But there is also a power there. But like the best wines in the world, with power comes grace. These are as graceful as any of the other top power/grave combos one can think of. To be honest these Rieslings remind me of the top Brisset reds. The Echezeaux and the Vosne Romanee 1er Cru "Les Rouges Dessus." The level of class and refinement in these Rieslings reminds me of those two wines. Yes I know it's Pinot Noir but that's the comparison I'm sticking with. And that's just his dry Rieslings. Which are never bone dry. There are always some scant amounts of RS that contribute to the texture and complexity.
This winery makes wines from the greatest collection of vineyards in Germany, perhaps in the world. Markus makes wines from Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr, Zeltinger Himmelreich, Erdener Pralat, Wehlener Klosterberg, Ockfener Bockstein, Erdener Treppchen, Urziger Wurzgarten and more. He's also a wizard with not so famous sites as his Zeltinger Deutscherrenberg showed as elite as the previous more famous vineyards.
Today's Wine
I'm starting our journey with Markus' winery with arguably the most recognized vineyard in the Mosel, the great Wehlener Sonnenuhr. I picked this wine because it is a brilliant representation of the house style but also relatively affordable. It is a dry wine as all the White Capsule wines are dry.
Our first wine is the 2018 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese (White Cap) for $37.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This will knock your socks off. Forget how inexpensive it is this is an elite wine of the highest degree. It is instantly beautiful at pop and pour. Then the orchestra begins. That's the thing with this wine. The harmony is off the charts but each part is so clear. The acid, the fruit, the intense minerality, the terroir expression all meld to form this beautiful Riesling. It's one of those wines that you sniff and sip and just know it's a legend.
Superb aromas. They just jump out with their purity and clarity. Gorgeous green apple. Huge slate. Other minerals. Hint of clean vulcanized rubber. So clean and so pure. Hint of creaminess as well. Also some confectionary aromas as well. So stunningly clean and pure. Can smell this all day. And did. What a nose on day 2. More melded today. Heavenly slate and confectionary aromas. Just so so expansive and elite. Really gained so much overnight in terms of breadth and depth. Lemon, hint of honeysuckle. So fine and refined. Such clarity. Just insane. Wow. Just insane. Such clarity, balance and purity. This is stunning.
Palate is just brilliant. So clean and crunchy but also sleek, delicate, finesse-driven and deep. It's playful and so nimble but also some hidden force and structure. The balance is absolutely brilliant. So even. The linearity of the flavors is just mind boggling. As the nose opens it gets more rubbery and it's the cleanest rubber I've ever smelt. Like being in a rubber hose factory. But the crisp apples are always there and getting more expansive. Amazing mouthfeel. Really it's got that Keller level of purity, precision and depth. God this is clean. Easily the best dry Wehlener Sonnenuhr I've ever had. It's not bone dry, but it's not sweet it's just Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Chewy and dense but ethereal and nimble all at the same time and the finish comes crashing like waves at the low tide. Man does this bring me back to the Mosel. Huge mineral complexity and such shimmering persistence. This wine shimmers. It's so beautiful and pure. The balance is extraordinary. So complex. So pure. There are no hard edges here. As it airs the intense and jagged minerality becomes more expressive on the finish. That finish is one for the ages. It's so tender, so dissipating and so energetic while being so nimble. A brilliant wine. Age will only make it better and boy will it age. After some air the minerals become incredible. A confectionary mineral stank. It's so complete on the palate but also has so much material and structure. Really impressive. On day one is was a 9.6.
On day 2, a background of minerality and such delicate, nimble refined flavors and nuances. This is just a brilliant wine. So complex and wonderous. Sick sick texture. I have never ever had a Mosel dry wine that is this refined. I just haven't. 9.6 to 9.7 overnight. Just so gorgeous today. Nose has more breadth and depth and the palate is more complex and round. The harmony is a knockout.
Stephan Reinhardt had the wine in September 2020 and gave it a 92. My experience was different from his as I think the wine has advanced since then. Here is his note.
"The 2018 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese (White Capsule) is very intense, warm and concentrated yet still slatey on the nose. Astringent and almost austere on the palate, this is a rich and intense yet crystalline and tensioned Sonnenuhr with a challenging dry and drying finish. Tasted at the domain in September 2020." 92 Points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
The Man and the Winery
I'm not sure what else I can add to the record of achievement that I've already detailed. Markus took over the estate in 1984 when he was 20. Over the past decades, he has built it into a powerhouse with plots in every material vineyard in the Mosel (and some in the Saar). These are all top vineyards with steep, steep slopes. And the trip from one to another is as much as 90 minutes. He used to make 300 cuvees. He wanted to express every possible degree of ripeness and dryness from every vineyard. One must be either dedicated beyond belief or somewhat mad to attempt such a feat. In either case, the level of brilliance and organizational skills required boggle the mind. Jeff Bezos could likely learn a thing or two from Markus.
Any statement I could make about how excited I am to be selling these wines would be a gross understatement.
2018 Markus Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese (White Cap) - $39.99 ($151.96 4-Pack) (*Including tariff of $3.99)
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