Markus Molitor Riesling (Off-Dry) Trabener Würzgarten Auslese Green Kapsel 2018

Markus Molitor makes 110 different wines EACH harvest! We’ve cherry-picked a handful of our favorites – and this supremely delicious 97 POINT Auslese from Trabener Würzgarten just might be a new favorite!

Markus Molitor is a staff favorite here at First Bottle – one we’ve been supporting for years. We’d argue that his portfolio is the best, and most consistent, in all of Germany. Auslese is considered to be Markus’ “bread and butter” sweetness level – the wines that earned him the nickname “Herr 300 Punkte” (“Mr. 300 Points”) when he received three perfect scores on his Auslese rieslings in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate review of his 2015 wines. That was the stroke that turned this German wunderkind into a living legend and, if anything, his wines have only gotten more refined and his practices more focused over time.

This 62-hectare steep slope is a west-facing hill – just across the Mosel from the twin villages of Traben-Trarbach. The dangerously loose soils are composed of the typical Middle Mosel blue-grey slate. This is one of many “Würzgarten” sites in Germany, so named for the spiced wines that were historically made here and the coinciding practice of growing the herbs alongside the vineyards themselves for extra ease of cultivation. Today, however, the grapes themselves are enough, though an herb garden is still planted on-site for nostalgia’s sake. These wines from the Trabener Würzgarten are prized for their captivating aromatics and their inimitable weight and viscosity – and Markus’ iteration is no exception.

This falls in line with the very best the site has to offer – with intensely aromatic notes of smoky flint, flowering thyme, Japanese salted plum, ginger, Korean pear, and sea spray. Nearly perfect now, but with a sort of careful austerity that makes us sure this wine’s best days are yet to come! A closely-knit structure, a piercing acidity, and a rich, honeyed finish – these elements almost seem to be harnessed at this stage in the wine’s growth. A couple of years (with upper limits of several decades) are sure to unleash this wine’s full potential...and that is perhaps the highest we’ve yet seen with this vintage of Markus’ iconic Mosel rieslings.