2014 Saarburger Rausch Auslese (3 Star) GK

Molitor did not finish picking the Rausch until early November, yet this "three-star" Auslese’s dominant character is not tropical fruits of the sort so often associated with advanced ripeness in that site, but instead citricity. Meyer lemon and tangerine offer a pungently aromatic and tinglingly bright palate performance. Site-typical hints of crushed stone appear on the nose, accompanied by black tea smokiness. This intense, exhilarating and refreshingly juicy elixir hardly hints at botrytis except in its kinetic concentration of ripe acids. It tugs at the cheeks and finishes with electric energy. It has almost certainly scarcely begun to show its full range of flavors. (It only saw its first sulfur a few weeks before bottling and little more than a month after I tasted it.)

Molitor's 2014 Riesling Saarburger Rausch Auslese *** (Golden Capsule) displays a white-golden color and a brilliant, deep nose with lemon, stone and spicy aromas. Rich, intense and concentrated on the palate, with a laser-beam of acidity, stunning purity and perfectly ripe fruit, this is another Molitor 2014 Auslese that is concentrated, round and rich, but not sweet. It's complex and stimulatingly mineral again, and reveals a lovely grip and structure. What divides the Rausch from the Schlossberg and the Hubertuslay is the concentration, but the wine is just as lean, straight and mineral as the others. The finish is long and salty, and so mineral that you might think this Auslese is even drier than the medium-dry Sonnenuhr. Fascinating! And so digestible... Mar 2016, eRobertParker.com, Drink: 2024-2044