2014 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 22
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Tasting notes
Intense in its golden-yellow color, the 2014 Riesling Zeltlinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese (Golden Capsule) has a very intense and concentrated bouquet of over-ripe Riesling fruits along with flinty flavors. Very rich, round and elegant, this is a lush and concentrated, creamy textured but pure, fresh, finessed and balanced Spätlese in the medium-sweet rather than sweet style. It is a typical 2014, with some nice but unusual bitter caramel flavors from the botrytis. Good length and salinity. The Zeltinger is not as piquant and fresh as the corresponding Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Bottled with 8% alcohol. (Tasted in March 2017.)
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Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
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The white-golden 2014 Riesling Zeltlinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese (Golden Capsule) offers an intense and deep, yet still discreet bouquet of ripe and overripe, yellow-skinned apples, along with flinty and yeasty aromas, and just a hint of new oak. Lush and salty-piquant on the palate, this is a very elegant, relatively round, smooth-textured Spätlese with a delicate tannin structure and banana flavors in the finish. Still very young, this wine reveals good complexity and tension, and should be cellared for at least another five or seven years, but should age very well over the years. Due to its structure and mineral depth, it tastes drier and should be excellent with food in the next decade.
What this lacks in creaminess compared with its Wehlener counterpart, it gains in clarity. That having been noted, there is a bit of a tug-of-war at this early stage between very decadently ripe white peach and apple on the one hand and tart lemon on the other. Hints of truffle, Ceylon tea and wet stone add intrigue to an impressively lingering finish.
About the producer
Markus Molitor is now among the largest privately owned wine estates in the Mosel and also one of the best. With a focus on single-vineyard expressions, the estate produces between 80 and 90 different wines each vintage.