Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2042
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Blue cheese, spicy Thai curry, glazed pork belly
✨ Technical Specifications
The Erdener Treppchen, meaning 'little staircase' of Erden, is one of the Mosel's most dramatic and historic grand cru vineyards. Its name derives from the stone steps carved directly into the near-vertical cliffs to assist vineyard workers. Unlike the blue slate found elsewhere in the region, Erdener Treppchen is characterized by iron-rich red slate soils, which impart an extraordinarily vibrant, spicy, and exotic mineral character to the Riesling grapes. Markus Molitor coaxes incredible depth from this site through meticulous hand-harvesting, often selecting grapes affected by noble rot for his Auslese bottlings. Fermented spontaneously in traditional neutral oak Fuder casks, this Riesling Auslese is a masterclass in tension, balancing intense, honeyed stone fruit and tropical notes with a laser-like, slate-driven acidity.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 1984 when twenty-year-old Markus Molitor assumed control of his family's winemaking legacy, Weingut Markus Molitor has evolved into an undisputed titan of the Mosel. Based at Haus Klosterberg, Molitor manages over 100 hectares encompassing premier steep-slope crus along both the Middle Mosel and Saar, including Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten, Erdener Prälat, and Scharzhofberg. Viticulture is strictly manual on precipitous gradients of weathered Devonian blue, red, and grey slate. Molitor pursues an uncompromising philosophy centered on sustainable farming, late selective harvesting, native yeast fermentation, and prolonged aging on fine lees in traditional wooden Fuders carved into subterranean slate cellars. Renowned for its singular capsule coding system—white indicating dry, green denoting feinherb (off-dry), and gold designating noble sweet expressions, often tiered with asterisks—the estate crafts crystalline, hyper-mineral Rieslings of monumental depth and aging potential, alongside site-expressive Pinot Noir and Weissburgunder.