Winemaker Notes
The grapes for this wine come from Molitor's oldest vines from the steep slopes along the river Mosel. The vineyard sites are located between Brauneberg and Traben-Trarbach in the Middle Mosel area.
The grapes were softly crushed and macerated for several hours on the skins. After maceration the juice was fermented using only natural yeasts. The wine rests on the lees following fermentation producing a balanced and aromatic wine.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This impressive dry riesling has a whole garden of fresh herbs and a wide spectrum of citrus zest aromas on the youthful and effusive nose. The juicy stone-fruit, citrusy character dominates right through the generous mid-palate into the long, structured, but silky finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Riesling Alte Reben (White Capsule) is intense yet pure and complex on the nose, combining ripe fruit aromas and a crystalline mineral substance. On the palate, this is a pure yet intense and sustainable old-vines Riesling from different vineyards in the Middle Mosel. The finish is savoy and saline, tensioned but also balanced.
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Wine Enthusiast
A concentrated yet expressive white that shows light signs of development with its singed lemon peel notes. The midpalate, however, exudes peach, ripe apple, brown spice and slate aromas and flavors. Wrapped in a silky texture, with a finish that echoes with harmony.
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Wine Spectator
A gorgeously fragrant version, with fresh orange blossom and oleander flower notes, this is rich and vibrant, flecked with elements of fresh grass, celery stalk and spicy greenness. The core of fleshy aloe and nectarine is underscored by real mineral drive and a tangy acidity that carries the long finish. Chalky minerality provides a solid spine in this well-done white. Drink now through 2031. 2,000 cases made, 75 cases imported.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.