Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese 3*
⏳ Drinking Window
2026 - 2050
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Rich blue cheeses, savory terrines or foie gras, and fruit-based desserts such as classic apple tarte tatin.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor took over his family's estate in 1984 at just 20 years old, driven by an uncompromising ambition to restore Mosel Riesling to its historic golden age of longevity and prestige. The Graacher Himmelreich vineyard, whose name translates to the 'Kingdom of Heaven,' is a legendary steep site situated on the right bank of the Mosel River, directly adjacent to the famous Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Its deep, weathered Devonian slate soils and excellent water-holding capacity yield wines of extraordinary precision, mineral drive, and structural elegance. Molitor's three-star (3*) designation represents the absolute pinnacle of his selective harvest, where botrytized grapes are painstakingly sorted by hand, berry by berry. Fermented slowly with native yeasts in traditional, large neutral oak casks, this Auslese showcases a breathtaking tension between luscious, honeyed stone fruit sweetness and a vibrant, crystalline acidity that defines the unique Mosel terroir.
🍾 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.