Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese White Capsule
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2042
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Pan-seared sea scallops with a citrus-butter sauce, roasted pork belly with crackling, or classic Alsatian choucroute garnie.
✨ Technical Specifications
Markus Molitor's Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese White Capsule is a masterclass in Mosel tension, where rich, late-harvest fruit meets bone-dry precision. In Molitor's unique color-coding system, the white capsule denotes a dry style. The wine hails from the iconic, precipitously steep Zeltinger Sonnenuhr (Sundial) vineyard, named after the historic sundial erected in 1842 by Jodocus Prüm. Here, ancient, often ungrafted Riesling vines dig deep into weathered blue Devonian slate soils. Molitor employs meticulous hand-harvesting, often in multiple passes, followed by spontaneous fermentation in traditional large oak casks. The result is a monumental dry Riesling that balances intense slate minerality, crystalline acidity, and the concentrated, complex stone fruit character of Auslese-level grapes.
🍾 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.