2013 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese (3 star) GK

The sweet 2013 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese *** is another laser sword in the armada of starred Ausleses. Pure and precise but less smoky and cool on the nose than the Wehlener Sonnenuhr it intertwines darker smoky stone aromas with ripe orange flavors and tropical fruit aromas to build up a very clear, deep and aromatic bouquet. Full, sweet and round on the elegant palate this is still a very delicate, pure, perfectly balanced Auslese of great complexity. The finish is juicy and lingering, mineral scented and perfectly balanced with lush fruit. The wines is less filigreed than the Wehlener Sonnenuhr.||As always, Markus Molitor's collection of 2013s is a tour de force. Including his Pinot Noirs and Pinot Blancs, I had to taste 39 wines, although neither the six TBAs nor the BA from the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr had finished fermentation by mid-December last year. Due to the horrible weather conditions during the harvest in 2013, Molitor and his 60 brave pickers focused on the Middle Mosel first before he sent the team to the Saar where the grapes were picked overripe and with botrytis at the beginning of November. The Mosel wines have surely more precision and there are legendary wines among them, most of all three three-stared noble sweet Auslesen (***) from the Wehlener and the Zeltingen Sonnenuhr as well as the Ürziger Würzgarten. In the Würzgarten, Molitor has remarkable new holdings and the 2013s already demonstrate impressively the top class of his old-vines parcels. Also the "dry“ wines (Molitor does not accept a borderline residual sugar as long as the wine tastes dry or almost dry) are superb and probably among the finest Rieslings that have been made in all Germany in 2013. Last but not least: Don’t miss the exotic medium-dry wines, of which the 2013 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese ** is another wine of the vintage. |"Everything looked so promising in September, also the yields which we really need after all the investments we have made and are still doing. But the rain caused a quickly spreading onset of botrytis and the berries shriveled rapidly, almost like in 2006. We started picking already on October 10, but we had to select extremely carefully. It was the most expensive harvest I did in 30 years but the wines finally reflect all the work we have invested.“ I don't know of any Mosel, Saar or Ruwer producer who picked his Auslesen as late as Molitor did. Except of the Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese *** (which was picked 31 October) all the other two and three-stared Auslesen were picked between November 1 (Zeltinger Schlossberg Auslese ** and Bernkasteler Lay Auslese **) and 7 (Graacher Himmelreich Auslese ***)! |Molitor has also selected a BA in the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr and six TBAs in 2013. The wines were not ready in January but I will taste them in March as they are now ready for bottling. I will also taste Molitor's 2012 vintage then which has so far not been rated in the Wine Advocate.||NB: Molitor uses a color code to distinguish the three different tastes of Riesling: His dry-tasting Rieslings wear a white capsule, the feinherb or medium-dry ones have a green capsule, whereas gold capsules indicate a fruity or sweet, respectively noble sweet wine. eRobertParker.com.February, 2015