Markus Molitor is the largest privately-held family winery in the Mosel Valley and one of the most prolific and quality-focused producers in the region, operating across 120 hectares of steep slate vineyard sites concentrated in the central Middle Mosel and extending into the Saar. While Molitor is primarily celebrated for his Rieslings, produced at every level of the Prädikat system from Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese with outstanding consistency, he has also pursued a serious Pinot Noir programme from selected Mosel vineyard sites. The Three Star designation within the Molitor hierarchy identifies the top tier of production for any given wine category, representing the cellar’s most carefully selected and fully aged expression.

The Graacher Himmelreich is one of the Mosel’s most celebrated vineyard sites, a south-facing terraced slope above the village of Graach that produces wines of extraordinary mineral precision and aromatic complexity from its deep blue Devon slate soils. The decision to produce Pinot Noir from this site reflects both the warming effect of climate change on the Mosel’s growing season and Molitor’s experimental approach to exploiting the full potential of his vineyard holdings. The 2018 Mosel vintage was warm and ripe, producing wines of generous concentration, and the Pinot Noir from Himmelreich in this year shows the combination of red fruit depth and mineral precision that distinguishes the finest Mosel terroir in any variety.

Pinot Noir from the Mosel remains a rare and curious proposition, and the Molitor Three Star version from Graacher Himmelreich is among the most seriously conceived examples produced in the region. For collectors who follow Molitor’s work and seek wines outside the conventional Riesling-centric profile of the estate, this represents a genuinely unusual and carefully made red wine from one of the world’s most prestigious white wine regions. The Trocken designation confirms the wine’s dry style, and the Three Star selection level indicates that this is Molitor’s finest Pinot Noir material from this site and vintage.

Pale ruby with a delicate nose of red cherry, raspberry, dried rose petal, slate mineral and a light spice note from barrel ageing. Light to medium-bodied on the palate with very fine tannins, bright natural acidity and a long, mineral, Burgundian-influenced finish that speaks to the terroir rather than the variety. Drink now through 2030.