Markus Molitor: 'near to perfection' on the Mosel

The stunningly beautiful meanders of the central Mosel River are overlooked by some of Germany's most famous vineyard sites; they are also home to one of the country's most celebrated modern growers. Markus Molitor succeeded to his family estate in the 1980s, and since then has been working towards a vision of hand-crafted wines 'as near to perfection as possible'. The steep, difficult sites he works are among the best the Middle Mosel has to offer. The red soils of the Urziger Wurzgarten are known for a spicy quality they are supposed to impart to its wines; in the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, 80-year-old ungrafted vines struggle through thin soils and lead to tense, dramatic wines.

It can be hard to make your way through a list of Molitor wines, but there are clues. Capsules are colour-coded to describe sweetness: white (dry), slate green (feinherb a.k.a. off-dry) and gold (sweet). The Auslesen are starred on an ascending scale of 1-3 to denote finesse, with the tension in the wine becoming tighter as you move up the scale. 

It is not only Riesling. Molitor led the way in re-establishing Pinot Noir in the Mosel, when the ban imposed in the Nazi era on 'foreign' grape varieties was finally lifted in the Mosel in 1987. Molitor now produces some of Germany's finest examples. Just as with his Auslesen, when grading Pinot Noir, Markus uses an ascending scale of 1-3 stars to denote quality. 3 stars is grand cru level. Both 2022 (for Riesling) and 2020 (for Pinot Noir) were hot vintages on the Mosel. The 2022 Rieslings balance ripe fruit with an intense, clear acidity; the 2020 Pinots have impressive structure that will see them age magnificently. /NT