Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Auslese
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2040
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Classic blue cheeses such as Roquefort, roasted duck with fruit-based glazes, and traditional fruit tarts or apple galettes.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor took the reins of his family winery in 1984 at the young age of twenty, driven by a vision to restore Mosel Riesling to its historical golden era of extreme longevity and terroir expression. The Zeltinger Himmelreich, translating to the 'Kingdom of Heaven,' is a premier steep-slope vineyard in the Middle Mosel characterized by deep, weathered Devonian slate soils. This unique terroir imparts a distinct, vibrant minerality to the 100% Riesling grapes. Molitor's Auslese is crafted with obsessive care, utilizing extremely late, selective hand-harvesting where multiple passes through the vineyard ensure only the finest grapes—often touched by noble rot—are selected. Fermented slowly with ambient yeasts in neutral oak foudres, this white wine beautifully balances luscious stone fruit sweetness with a laser-like, electric acidity that is characteristic of the Mosel's finest steep-slope wines.
🍾 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.