Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2042
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Sichuan or Thai cuisine, rich blue cheeses such as Roquefort, and classic fruit tarts or pear galettes.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor’s Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese is a breathtaking expression of one of the Mosel’s most dramatic and legendary vineyards. The 'Wurzgarten' (meaning 'spice garden') is famous for its dizzyingly steep slopes and its striking, iron-rich red volcanic and slate soils, which stand in stark contrast to the blue slate found elsewhere in the region. This unique terroir imparts a famously exotic, spicy, and tropical character to the 100% Riesling grapes. Molitor, a master of precision, employs meticulous hand-harvesting—often in multiple passes to select only the finest botrytized or highly ripe grapes—followed by slow, spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts in traditional, large oak Fuder casks. The resulting Auslese is a masterclass in tension, balancing luscious richness with a piercing, mineral-driven acidity that reflects centuries of Mosel winemaking heritage.
🍾 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.