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 My meeting was fixed well before the news of Stephan Reinhardt, taster for German wines for Wine Advocate, previously owned by Robert Parker, awarded the perfect score of 100 points to Bernkastel-Wehlen based Weingut Markus Molitor for three noble sweet Riesling Auslese wines of the 2013 vintage- from the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Ürziger Würzgarten Grand Cru vineyards of Mosel. In fact, I didn’t know till recently that Molitor had achieved the historical accolade.
 I had been to his winery twice before on my visits to Mosel and was very impressed with his sweet wines, especially the Auslese and Beerenauslese. The winery had been rising in its ratings by the Gault Millau German Wine Guide that had taken it to 4.5 stars (4 reds) and it was well on its way to the highest rating of 5 stars. I was quite touched during my second visit last in 2009 when he kept waiting for my arrival (the winery was under refurbishment and I was lost finding the place. When I complimented him and asked him when he would make it to 5 stars, he had instantly replied in German, ‘it took me 25 years to reach where I am; it would take another 25 to reach the top’.
 Joel Payne, Editor of the Guide says, ‘Markus Molitor has a rich, unctuous, sometimes over the top style that some people love and others find less typical of the region. Of course Robert Parker likes this style.’ Well. It looks like Stephan Reinhardt also loves his style. With this rating, Molitor has 4 out of a total of 9 wines ever awarded 100 points by Wine Advocate. Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff from Nahe is the only other German winery getting 100 points for 4 wines but that was for different vintages of Riesling Eiswein- 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2010. Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese 2007 from Mosel had won it once earlier. The achievement is even more commendable because the 2013 vintage was considered by experts as a very difficult one. No German winemaker has ever scored three perfect 100 points within the single vintage.
 Another commendable factor has been that all the wines sampled received 90 points-not surprisingly I tasted 11 wines and gave 90+ to all the wines, though I couldn’t go beyond 95. Two the three wines that have won him the honour were also present at the Show-except that they were 2-star rated and the wines tasted by Wine Advocate were 3-stars. Markus is perfectionist and a man of précis. He does not bring out a product unless he is convinced about its quality. He gives star ratings of 1-3 for these Auslese.
Dr. Jamal, the COO of Markus Molitor is a Kenyan of Kashmiri descent hails from Burgundy. I had first met him in 2002 in Burgundy when he was working for Albert Bichot. He had later worked with Grover Vineyards as a consultant for a few years too. He was also the reason my first visit was fixed for Molitor-he had made sure of that a month ahead of the start of Prowein on March 15-17. He must be a happy man. Though he had been with Markus for the 2011 vintage that won 100 points, the 2013 is where he was totally involved and can take some credit for the accolade though he is honest enough to admit that he had been hired primarily to make sure the winery produced a top class Burgundy from Mosel and set up systems for export marketing.
 Interestingly, the 3 Pinot Noir I tasted were light bodied and light coloured-almost Rose to the untrained naked eye. But similarity stopped there. The wines were full of character and concentration, cherry fruit and very elegant and feminine. The flavour was persistent on the palate and the harmony showed. Although it would be unfair to compare them with the Rieslings, they did somewhat pale in front of the unctuous Riesling-especially Auslese three of which won the perfect 100. As Ariff explained, about 80% of the 50 hA vineyards owned now by Molitor are Grand Cru vineyards and the wines awarded and most of those I tasted were single iconic Grand Cru vineyards.
During 30 years after his taking over the winery in 1984, there have been many improvements in quality and the 4 perfect scores within 2 years evidence his exponential rise. But Markus is as modest as ever. We will have to wait and see if the latest accolade brings some visible change in him.
Markus Molitor wines are imported by Berkmann India. Of course, the Trio is not on their import list. Farhad Bhabha tells delWine,’ this year we have been offered the first 100-pointer-Auslese 2011. But we are still taking a call on whether to order it on an immediate basis. One of the main reasons is the slow movement of high end white wines especially Riesling which makes it a difficult sell to hotels . Private Buyers are the best bet for high end wines. We currently import Markus Molitor QBA Riesling, Riesling Kabinett, Spãtlese, Auslese and Pinot Noir.’
For earlier related articles, visit
Passing By: Doc Ariff Jamal of Markus Molitor of Mosel
Wine Travel: Riesling is Riesling...unless it is from Mosel
Subhash Arora
Markus Molitor wines are imported by Berkmann India. For more details visit the winery website http://www.wein-markus-molitor.de/ or write to the CEO, Farhad Bhabha at Farhadb@berkmannindia.com for the imported vintages and availability |