Zeltlinger Schlossberg Auslese
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Classic blue cheeses, rich foie gras or savory duck terrines, and moderately spicy Sichuan or Thai cuisine.
✨ Technical Specifications
Crafted by the visionary Markus Molitor, who took over his family estate in 1984 with the ambition to restore Mosel Riesling to its historical late-19th-century glory, this Auslese is a monument to the steep, sun-drenched slopes of the Zeltlinger Schlossberg. Composed of 100% Riesling grown on weathered Devonian slate soils, the vineyard's dramatic gradient requires painstaking hand-harvesting. Molitor's signature style relies on spontaneous fermentation with ambient yeasts and slow aging in traditional large oak Fuder casks. This Auslese showcases the magical interplay of noble rot, intense stone fruit sweetness, and a piercing, slate-driven acidity that defines the legendary terroir of the Middle Mosel.
🍾 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.