Markus Molitor : Pinot Noir Graacher Himmelreich*** 2020

Molitor's 2020 Pinot Noir Graacher Himmelreich *** opens fascinatingly pure, fresh and aromatic on the elegant and fragrant nose that displays red berry and cherry as well as some plummy and cinnamon aromas without losing focus or precision, thanks to the deep, fresh, flinty and vegetal character of the Himmelreich. The wine is silky, fresh, vital and beautifully balanced, combining ripe, elegant fruit with the tension and finesse of the Himmelreich terroir that lifts up this full-bodied and rich Pinot Noir and lends to a long, tense and aromatic finish. Still very young, the Himmelreich *** will benefit from further bottle age. 13.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in August 2024 from AP 66 23.

The precise floral and red currant aromas pull you into this quite sleek and very elegant German pinot noir. The fine tannins give this a wonderfully silky personality on the medium-bodied palate. Almost perfect integration of fruit and oak. Lots of rooty and smoked bacon complexity in the very long, beautifully crafted finish. Drink or hold.

The 2020 Pinot Noir Graacher Himmelreich *** is from vines planted in 1987. Compared to its siblings, this has more restraint, soaking up more of that oak and presenting a floral overtone. The palate is rounded, smooth, dense with very fine, ripe, elegant tannin, but always with that smoky, stony backdrop. Lovely, salty depth, floral, aromatic creaminess, and cherry-ish smoke fill the mind. It's really a cut above. It needs bottle age. (Bone-dry)