Select manual work Multiple selection, pure manual work, careful examination of every individual grape – as the most work-intensive period of the year, the harvest is decisive for the quality of what ends up in the bottle. With an experienced team the grapes are picked exclusively by hand in several rounds, so that what was carefully observed and nurtured for 350 days of the year is brought to its climax in the harvest.
Time is a decisive factor. Despite the increased risk, we harvest quite late. This gives the grapes time to ripen physiologically – the most important criterion to develop the optimum balance of the wines with increased extract values and animating acidity.
Stone vault Naturalness, site characteristics, complexity and potential for ageing – in keeping with this basic philosophy, all "Molitor Wines" are made by spontaneous fermentation. We deliberately refrain from using improving agents, enzymes or other aids. The old, three-storey vaulted cellar cut out of the slate offers an optimum, permanently cool climate with high humidity in which the wines are fermented extremely slowly.
Alongside maturation in stainless steel tanks, the wines are fermented and matured in large (1000 l, 2000 l, 3000 l) wooden barrels of high-grade, air-seasoned oak to ensure an especially natural flavour. These are the ideal maturation containers for high-quality Rieslings and, thanks to natural clarification and moderate oxygen contact, result in the same unmistakeable flavour as they have been doing for centuries.
Molitor wines are fermented at low temperature and slowly over months. The wines are then left to lie for several more months on the fine yeast to give them bloom and depth – the accustomed full-bodied character of the "Molitor Wines".
After a pause in winter, fermentation is ended as the temperatures start to rise in the spring. The wines are then left to lie for several more months on the fine yeast to give them bloom and depth – the accustomed full-bodied character of the "Molitor Wines".