2019 Markus Molitor Brauneberger Mandelgraben Pinot Noir, Mosel

The nose of 2019 Pinot Noir Brauneberger Mandelgraben * comes from an unusual site for Molitor since it is merely sloping, not steep, with richer loam soils mixed with weathered slate. It has a touch of earthiness, blended with black cherry. The palate is textured and earthy but the black cherry fruit shines, marrying the subtle mocha notes of oak. The finish is linear, fresh and mouth-watering. Needs bottle age. (Bone-dry)

Any visit to Markus Molitor’s Haus Klosterberg is a tour de force – while the man himself is a force of nature. He tirelessly drives to make the best wines he possibly can, to do utmost justice to his vineyards and to vinify as many parcels separately as possible. “Akribie,” or absolute meticulousness, is his guiding principle. His next favorite word is selection. “Transporting the identity of each site into the glass time after time, vintage by vintage,” is how one of his employees described the ethos of the estate. Add a tireless, obsessive nature and a deep-seated love for this intricate region and its history, and you begin to understand what you are in for. Molitor’s vast estate holdings, now amounting to 120 hectares, include the property of the former Prussian State Domaine in Serrig (Saar) he bought in 2016. He notes how both the pandemic and building supply issues delayed the planned re-opening of this historic renovation project. Then there are new acquisitions: it took lengthy negotiation and persuasion with more than 60 vineyard owners to piece together the numerous parcels of the cooler, well-ventilated vineyards in the upper Zeltinger Schlossberg, many of them fallow for years. Molitor bought these to recultivate, so his supply of grapes for Kabinett wines is ensured in the ever-warming climate. Harvest in these elevated sites is two to three weeks later than in lower-lying vineyards. Molitor also says that he is always “on the lookout” for more sites suitable for Pinot Noir, having been among the first to plant the variety after it was re-permitted in the region in the 1980s and noting that it will be “ever more important” in the region. Wine styles at Molitor are color-coded: white capsules denote dry, green is offdry, and gold is sweet. Within these categories, wines are tiered into one, two and three stars of each of the Prädikate, harking back to the pre-1971 attributes of “feiner”, “feinste” and “hochfein” – meaning finer, finest and absolutely fine. This old-fashioned but clear-cut distinction was conferred on wines before they went to auction during the last decades of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th centuries—the glory days of Riesling. A three-star Auslese can thus be produced in trocken, feinherb or sweet and so on. Multiply this by countless parcels in numerous sites across Mosel and Saar, several harvest passes for various Prädikate and you understand the number of wines on offer. The star ratings are not down to degrees of Oechsle, i.e. the ripeness of the must at harvest, but to the evolution of each and every single lot of wine in the cellar. Molitor notes that many of the three-star Auslesen are made in tiny quantities of just 300- 500 bottles. Three stars guarantee a wine at the very height of its expression. They often are from the oldest vines – but not necessarily. The sweetest Prädikate, BAs and TBAs, in tiny kegs and glass balloons, are still fermenting away in a corner of the smaller tasting room, so they benefit from the warmer temperature that they need at their glacial pace of progress. All dry wines, made strictly without any botrytized grapes, are fermented and matured in 2,000- and 3,000-liter barrels made by Stockinger and some smaller barrels, too. This results in some Rieslings with a distinct touch of oak-derived hazelnut creaminess. Some wines also ferment in amphora, concrete egg and stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation is avoided as much as possible. While Riesling is the mainstay, Pinot Noir is of growing importance. There is also a little Pinot Blanc and, since 2018, also some Chardonnay. The 2021 Rieslings were thrilling. I was also often impressed with the sites from Kinheim – even though they are not Molitor’s most famous. The Pinot Noirs from 2019 are very elegant.

89 points vinous.com