Weingut Markus Molitor

Markus Molitor is the eighth generation of this family to run the old family estate. He was just 20 years old when he took over the business in 1984. Since then, he has not only considerably increased the vineyard area to now 40 ha, but has also turned his uncompromising hard work in both the vineyards and the cellar into a quantum leap in wine quality, to reach heights previously undreamed of.

WINEMAKING-PHILOSOPHY
Harvesting is always done extremely late in the season, and always selective, with grapes being picked into very small containers. The grapes are then generally crushed and processed quickly, with a minimum of handling. Only batches of grapes that are a little problematical will be pressed as whole bunches. The must is clarified simply by gravity, and then ferments using exclusively natural yeasts, the cellar features an old arched style, and provides a naturally cool environment. Fermentation takes place partly in stainless steel tanks, and partly in traditional oak barrels. Currently the proportion of oak barrels is at around 40%, but Markus litor is planning to carve an additional barrel cellar out of the rock, to be able to increase the barrel proportion to 60%. In his opinion, all high-quality wines should spend at least some time in an oak barrel. Once fermentation has been completed, Molitor leaves the wines on the lees for an extended period of time, they are then lightly filtered before bottling.

VINEYARD-PHILOSOPHY
Markus Molitor is one of the great lovers of the "Terroir"- idea. In the last years he continuously increased the number of different vineyards to be able to realize an enormous portfolio of Riesling styles. His idea is to express the various personalities of each terroir. Extremely individualistic wines that express nature and their origin is what he is living for.
The vineyards in the Mosel Valley are extremely steep and very hard to work. All of the best vineyards are characterised by soils full of slate, deep or not so deep, softer or harder with different mineral components giving them a grey, blue or even red colour. Markus Molitor owns some of the most known and most beautiful sites of the Middle Mosel and one vineyard at the Sarre:　http://www.markusmolitor.com/