Markus Molitor's Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese** (White Capsule) comes from one of the Mosel's most distinctive vineyard sites, and we have an incredible price today on this example from 2017. Markus took over the family estate in 1984 at just 20 years old and has since built a reputation for precision farming and long-aging, terroir-driven Rieslings. In 2017, this wine was sourced from the best plot, called Kranklay, which is planted on steep, red slate soils within Ürziger Würzgarten, contributing to the intense minerality and spice. 2017 was a vintage with cool nights and long hang times, promoting aromatic complexity and acid retention, making for the best example of the two-star Auslese White Capsule Markus has ever made. Vinified with ambient yeasts in large oak casks and bottled under the "white capsule" to denote a non-botrytis, off-dry style, the wine offers vibrant acidity, ripe citrus, and red orchard fruit, with exotic spice, and crushed rock notes on a structured frame. It's an excellent wine that can age for decades and especially appeals to those seeking precision over overt sweetness. This is starting to show very well after 8 years, and we currently have the only bottles available!

Wine Advocate (Stephan Reinhardt) 96+ points! "Bottled with moderate 11% alcohol, the 2017 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese ** (White Capsule) is crystalline and super precise on the clear and flinty nose that exhibits crunchy, iron-rich stone and lime zest aromas. It is lean and fresh but dense and intense on the palate, with ripe, round and concentrated Riesling fruit, some sweetness and refined acidity. This is an elegant, highly finessed and stimulating Würzgarten with a lingering, salty-piquant finish. This wine pairs its moderate alcohol level with great complexity and mineral tension. It's a fabulous yet still very young Würzgarten of extraordinary class and style. Tasted in March and April 2019."