2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese

The 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese A.P. #23 is a Molitor auction wine. An alluring and fascinating counterpoint of fruit and minerals is adumbrated already in the nose, where gardenia perfume, ripe pear, honeydew melon, and quince appear to meet a stiff, saline sea breeze. Ravishing sweet inner-mouth perfume and orchard fruit purity persist on an almost weightless (7.5% alcohol) palate, with subtly stony and persistently saline notes as well as a touch of fresh mint adding interest. One would never guess from the balance of sweetness in the long, uplifting finish here that this harbors 100 grams of residual sugar. It will almost certainly reward two decades of cellaring. The sheer size of Markus Molitor’s sprawling estate, his distinctive style, and his policy of protracted release – about all of which, readers are encouraged to consult issue 167 for further details – point to an incredibly ambitious and almost implausibly energetic individual. When I arrived this year, the huge tasting room was on the brink of remodeling, and if Molitor’s plans are approved by the regional zoning authorities, his winery will soon find a new and expanded home built into the hillside beside the Klosterberg vineyard (a site officially attached to Wehlen, on account of its being on the Mosel’s Left Bank). The Molitor label will also be undergoing a face-lift, and some of the complex winery-internal conventions that govern wine descriptions at this estate – including the use of stars specifically as an indicator of must weight, and of white labels for dry-tasting and gold labels for noticeably sweet wine – might be modified. In a matter of greater flavor interest, Molitor is in the process of working with Austrian cooper Franz Stockinger to render barrels from his own woods near the Klosterberg. An incredible 20 different Trockenbeerenauslesen, largely of vintages 2005-2006, joined me in the tasting room last September, arrayed in glass demijohns under blankets: Molitor’s must weights are frequently so high that fermentation can be measured in years, not months. After two vintages like that, 2007 represented a return to conditions which – at least, at any other estate – would be deemed closer to normal. The efficacious acids of this vintage generally flatter the characteristic high ripeness and opulence of Molitor’s style of Riesling. Even with a crew of 60 pickers, Molitor regretted last year that “with our size, we lacked enough time to linger over many vineyards.” Things were dramatically different in 2007. Infamous for his risk-taking late harvesting as it is, Molitor sought to assure me that his crew had many a famous vineyard site all to themselves by the time they went picking. While Molitor’s release schedule is intentionally leisurely and he believes in giving his wines long elevage on their lees, most of the 2007s (of which those canvassed in this report – despite their plentitude – do not represent his entire collection) had been bottled shortly before my September visit, and the balance – save for a few very high residual sugar nobly sweet wines – were bottled by the end of that month. Importer: Schmitt Soehne, Millersville, MD; tel. 410 729 4083