Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese Green Capsule
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Thai or Sichuan cuisine, roasted pork belly with fruit compote, and classic German onion tart.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor's Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese Green Capsule represents a sublime expression of off-dry Mosel Riesling. The Graacher Himmelreich vineyard, translating to the Kingdom of Heaven, is a steep, south-southwest-facing slope rich in deep, weathered blue Devonian slate. This unique terroir lends a profound mineral tension and elegance to the 100% Riesling grapes. Molitor's color-coded capsule system uses the green capsule to signify an off-dry (feinherb) style, displaying a perfect, high-wire act of natural residual sweetness balanced by vibrant, electric acidity. Harvested by hand at peak ripeness and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in traditional large oak fuder casks, this wine showcases the meticulous craftsmanship that has restored the Mosel to its historical winemaking glory.
🍾 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.