Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Thai or Vietnamese cuisine, slow-roasted pork belly with a sweet soy glaze, and aged blue cheeses or fruit-based tarts.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor's Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese is a breathtaking expression of one of the Mosel's most dramatic and legendary vineyards. The Wurzgarten (spice garden) is famous for its steep, amphitheater-like slopes and its unique, iron-rich red volcanic clay and slate soils, which stand in stark contrast to the blue slate found elsewhere in the region. According to local lore, the vineyard earned its name from the wild herbs and spices that naturally grow among the vines, imparting a distinct, exotic, and highly spicy signature to the grapes. Molitor coaxes incredible complexity from these old, ungrafted vines through extremely late harvesting, meticulous hand-sorting, and spontaneous fermentation in traditional large oak Fuder casks. The resulting Spatlese is a masterclass in tension, balancing luscious tropical fruit notes of mango and papaya with a fiery, mineral-driven acidity and a lingering, herbal-spicy finish.
🍾 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.