Tasting Note:
"The 2020 Vogelsang Grosse Lage is pure, deep and intense on the spectacularly fine, mineral and absolutely unique nose that reveals concentrated but elegant and spicy-mineral fruit with a coolish and herbal terroir expression. A show-stopping nose! On the palate, this is a medium to full-bodied, dense, rich and intense but also refined and vibrantly fresh Saar Riesling with a tight structure and a spectacularly long, refined and saline finish that reveals a serious tannin structure. The wine reveals great astringency on the finish that indicates tremendous aging potential, the more so since the balance and classicism of this Serrig Riesling is based on about 12 grams of residual sugar. This is a wine made for decades and a new benchmark for dry-tasting Saar Rieslings. Even though they have been produced since 2017, the 2020 Rieslings from the steep Vogelsang site in Serrig (Saar) are the first that Markus Molitor has brought to market under the name "Ehemalige Domäne Serrig." The former Prussian state domaine, built in 1904 as a model domaine at the time of Emperor Wilhelm II—i.e., 20 years before the Domäne Assmannshausen in the Rheingau, which specializes in Pinot Noir—had its heyday until World War II (including the 1921 Trockenbeerenauslese) but went to the dogs after the war. The privatization at the end of the 1980s did nothing to change this. Only since Markus Molitor acquired the domaine at the end of 2016 is something happening here that must be taken very seriously.\
"Even though they have been produced since 2017, the 2020 Rieslings from the steep Vogelsang site in Serrig (Saar) are the first that Markus Molitor has brought to market under the name "Ehemalige Domäne Serrig." The former Prussian state domaine, built in 1904 as a model domaine at the time of Emperor Wilhelm II—i.e., 20 years before the Domäne Assmannshausen in the Rheingau, which specializes in Pinot Noir—had its heyday until World War II (including the 1921 Trockenbeerenauslese) but went to the dogs after the war. The privatization at the end of the 1980s did nothing to change this. Only since Markus Molitor acquired the domaine at the end of 2016 is something happening here that must be taken very seriously. The building is still in the process of being completely restored and modernized, as is the contiguous vineyard area, including no less than 25 hectares of Riesling, which are marketed under the historic single-vineyard name Vogelsang. This is a monopole, which has just emerged from Vogelsang and Heiligenborn. It is a 40% to 100% steep, south- and southwest-sloping site on reddish colored slate that rises from 220 to 340 meters above sea level. Only five hectares of old stock Molitor found worth preserving, the remaining 20 hectares he has replanted since 2017 with high-quality genetics (different massal selections). The two 2020s—Kabinett and Grosse Lage (Grand Cru), which were handpicked, pressed on the basket press, fermented spontaneously and aged in large wooden barrels—are of terrific quality and style, suggesting that wines will continue to be made here that can rival those of Egon Müller in quality, the previous untouchable icon not only of the Saar but of all Germany. Kabinett (feinherb style) and Grosse Lage (dry or off-dry) are always produced at Molitor's Domäne Serrig; predicates such as Auslese or even Trockenbeerenauslesen are produced only when the vintage allows it and the very highest qualities are achieved. The next vintage after the 2020s, which are about to be released, will be the 2021s (probably in the fall of 2024), while the 2017 to 2019 vintages produced up to that point (including no Kabinett, by the way) will be marketed at a later, as yet unknown date. With two wines from one site and one vintage, the international market has something to swallow for now anyway. It can be seen as a kind of training program, because there is still a lot to come in the next few years. It is probably not exaggerated to assume that here in the cool Saar, a completely renewed German Riesling flagship is just setting course." ~ Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
