2008 Erdener Treppchen Auslese

The Molitor 2008 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese two Star smells of pineapple and sassafras with smoky intrusions; comes to the palate creamy in texture and with aspects of pineapple chutney and orange marmalade; and finishes with bittersweet yet confectionary concentration and lingering spice. I expect this will perform admirably for a quarter century, and perhaps achieve more clarity and nuance in the process. The vastness of Markus Molitor’s ambition and energy – as well as of his still-expanding estate – continue to be a cause for wonder. (Consult issues 167 and 185 for further details.) In time for the 2010 harvest, he plans to have moved into completely renovated cellar and receiving facilities, and in the meantime, I can hardly imagine the effort that must have been involved in transferring literally lock, stock, and barrel(s) to the warehouse district on the other side of the Mosel where he and I tasted his 2008 collection. You could say that collection is an abbreviated or stylistically restricted one only in the sense that there are not the dozen or more T.B.A.s that have become a feature of so many recent Molitor vintages, and that have resulted in glass demijohns two and three years deep awaiting bottling. (There were two 2008 Eisweine, one B.A., and one T.B.A. still fermenting when I visited in September.) “This vintage,” says Molitor, “was about, waiting, waiting, waiting … we didn’t really get started until November 10, completely crazy.” Crazy indeed, when one has more than 100 acres to harvest, and no other German grower I know finished as late this year as Molitor (at the end of November). He considers 2008 especially well suited to dry-tasting wines, and the bottled results certainly back him up. “Everybody says in really ripe vintages ‘ooh, great year for trocken!’ but then the wines have too little extract and too much alcohol. I normally bottle 60% dry wines, but in 2003, for example, it was only 7%.” The Molitor label has been redesigned (beautifully, to my eye) but the degree of dryness continues to be signified by a color coding, “trocken,” and “feinherb” being signified now by white and pale green bottle capsules respectively, but not appearing in print on the labels; while unabashedly sweet wines now all (!) receive a gold capsule. Where a dry- and an off-dry-tasting wine here share the same site-designation and Pradikat, one is distinguished from the other in my description by referencing the A.P. #. Bottling is routinely late here, so some wines were still in barrel or tank when I last tasted in September. Only a very small subset of wines is listed in the U.S. (and thus paired with prices in my report), but the importer insists that arrangements are made with those distributors or other customers who are interested in offering any particular wine, and it would be a wise merchant who took them up on this. Importer: Schmitt Soehne, Millersville, MD; tel. 410 729 4083