Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically peaks between 10 to 30+ years from the vintage, though exceptional vintages can easily cellar for half a century or more.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Glazed roasted duck, spicy Sichuan cuisine, or aged blue cheeses.
✨ wine.spec_sheet
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.
🍾 wine.about_producer
Taking over his family's estate in 1984 at just twenty years old, Markus Molitor set out to restore the Mosel region's historic prestige through uncompromising quality and traditional craftsmanship. Based at the historic Haus Klosterberg in Bernkastel-Kues, the winery meticulously farms steep, slate-rich vineyards across the Mosel and Saar, utilizing extremely late hand-harvesting and spontaneous fermentation in neutral oak Fuder casks. Molitor is globally renowned for his precise, mineral-driven Rieslings—distinguished by white, green, and gold capsules indicating dryness levels—as well as his structured, elegant Spätburgunder. This obsessive dedication to terroir has earned the estate numerous perfect 100-point scores, cementing its status as an icon of German winemaking.