Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Glazed roasted duck, spicy Sichuan cuisine, or aged blue cheeses.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor’s Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese is a breathtaking expression of the Middle Mosel’s steep, slate-laden slopes. Taking over his family's estate in 1984 at just 20 years old, Molitor has become a legendary figure, famed for his uncompromising pursuit of quality and his preservation of traditional Mosel winemaking. The "Himmelreich" (Kingdom of Heaven) vineyard lives up to its celestial name, featuring deep Devonian slate soils that absorb the daytime sun and radiate heat back to the vines. This 100% Riesling is crafted from hand-selected, late-harvested grapes, often touched by noble rot. Fermented slowly with indigenous yeasts in traditional large oak casks, the wine beautifully balances rich, concentrated stone fruit and honeyed complexity with a striking, laser-like slate minerality and vibrant acidity.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded upon an eighth-generation family viticultural heritage, Weingut Markus Molitor was transformed in 1984 when twenty-year-old Markus Molitor took over the estate at Haus Klosterberg with the dedicated mission of restoring Mosel Riesling to its historic world-class stature. Situated in Bernkastel-Kues in Germany's legendary Mosel region, the winery meticulously cultivates precipitous slate vineyards across renowned grand cru sites such as Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, and Erdener Treppchen. Molitor practices low yields, ultra-selective late hand-harvesting, and gentle spontaneous fermentation in ancient, deep vaulted cellars with minimal intervention. The estate is globally celebrated for its site-expressive Rieslings—distinguished by white, green, and gold capsules indicating dry, off-dry, and botrytized sweet styles—as well as remarkably complex, structured Pinot Noir.