Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Riesling Dry 2024, Mosel, Germany

Haus Klosterberg is the home of Weingut Markus Molitor, the family manor house set among the Wehlener Klosterberg vineyards in the Mosel. This dry, white-capsule Riesling is a blend from several of the estate’s slate vineyards, which run from Brauneberg to Traben-Trarbach. The soils are blue slate, grey slate and red Rotliegend, which hold the heat well, and the steepest slopes are worked by hand. The grapes are harvested by hand in October, gently crushed and given several hours of skin contact. The must then ferments slowly and spontaneously at low temperature with no cultured yeasts, and the wine matures for an extended time on its lees in stainless steel and wooden vats.

In the glass it is pale and bright. The nose is clear, pure and fresh, with white flowers, peach and a mineral, slatey note. The palate is juicy and piquant: a precise, dry Riesling with a silky texture, fine phenolic grip and lively acidity, leading to a long, clean finish.

Serve well chilled, at around 8–10°C. It is excellent with grilled fish, cod, sushi, shellfish and lighter Asian dishes, and with grilled vegetables. Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Riesling Dry drinks well young, but it is balanced enough to develop nicely for several years.

Weingut Markus Molitor is a family estate based at Haus Klosterberg in Bernkastel-Wehlen, in the heart of Germany’s Mosel. The family has owned it for generations. Markus Molitor took over in 1984, aged just 20, with the aim of restoring the great reputation that Mosel Riesling once had. Since then he has grown a small holding into one of the largest hands-on, family-run estates in the region. Its vineyards run along the Mosel, and since 2001 the Saar, and include the Wehlener and Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich and Bernkasteler Doctor. Yields are low, the grapes are picked by hand in several passes, and the wines ferment with natural yeasts and no fining agents, enzymes or other additives. A coloured capsule shows each wine’s style: white for dry, green for off-dry and gold for sweeter wines.