Markus Molitor Debuts Inaugural Rieslings from Domäne Serrig

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW | SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

After having purchased the former royal Prussian state domain in the Saar Valley in 2016, German star winemaker and Riesling supremo Markus Molitor now debuts the first two wines from the restored and re-planted Serriger Vogelsang vineyard, one dry Riesling, one Kabinett.

Both wines are from the 2020 vintage and will be sold and distributed under the Domäne Serrig label via the Place de Bordeaux. This is an unusual move for Molitor, who is fond of vinifying countless small lots of dry, off-dry and sweet wines from his numerous plots in Mosel and Saar. The 25-hectare monopole site in the village of Serrig prompted the decision to make meaningful quantities of two key and historic styles of German wine: one dry Riesling and one Kabinett-style Riesling. Eight thousand bottles of each wine will be released with minimum retail prices of EUR 200.00 for the dry Grosse Lage wine and EUR 100.00 for the Kabinett. The exact release date, most likely in mid-to-late October, has not yet been announced. Further bottles will be held back for the estate’s treasury and library releases as well as for cellar-door sales at the domain, which will be open to the public once the building renovations are completed.

“It was, in fact, a unique opportunity to purchase a contiguous 25-hectare site of unique quality,” Molitor says about his ongoing restoration project. “Never before in the history of the Mosel region, even better, in that of German viticulture, has there been such an opportunity to purchase such a sizeable monopole site possessing all the best attributes of a grand cru.” Since 2017, 20 hectares of the 25-hectare monopole site in the village of Serrig were re-planted with Molitor’s own massal Riesling selections, with the first vintage made in 2017. Dry Riesling was made in 2017, 2018 and 2019; in 2020, both a dry Riesling and a Kabinett were made – these two wines from the 2020 vintage are the first to be released.