Graacher Himmelreich Riesling TBA 1*
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2065
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roquefort or other high-quality blue cheeses, artisanal fruit tarts (especially apricot or peach), and rich foie gras terrine.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor’s Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) 1* is a monument to the extreme viticulture of the Middle Mosel. The 'Himmelreich'—or 'Kingdom of Heaven'—vineyard features steep, south-southwest-facing slopes composed of deep, weathered blue Devonian slate, which imparts a distinctive, crystalline minerality and vibrant acidity to the Riesling grapes. Under the obsessive guidance of Markus Molitor, who revived his family's estate in 1984, grapes are harvested by hand in multiple meticulous passes to select only the most perfectly shriveled, botrytized berries. The '1*' designation signifies a highly refined, elegant expression of TBA, where the intense sweetness is balanced by a piercing, electric acidity. Fermented slowly with native yeasts in neutral oak Fuder casks, this rare nectar represents the pinnacle of Mosel sweet wine craftsmanship, marrying rich honeyed complexity with ethereal lightness.
🍾 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.
🍇 Grape Varieties
100% Riesling