Domäne Serrig Riesling Kabinett 2020 Vogelsang Große Lage

Notizen des Weinguts:
Embark on sensory journey with lucid white fruit aromas entwined with subtle slate undertones. Experience Clear aromas of white fruit paired with fine hints of slate. Delicate and precise, almost weightlessly dancing on the palate. Vibrant in the mineral finish, animating and nimble with a piquant aftertaste.

- 97 Punkte Parkers WINE ADVOCATE, S. Reinhardt: „Basket pressed and vinified in traditional oak and stainless steel, the 2020 Vogelsang Kabinett is pure, bright and fresh on the highly delicate and flinty nose that shows precise and elegant fruit intertwined with the serious, flinty minerality of the gray and red slate soils of the domaine plus coolish vegetal nuances of nettles and mint. Round and intense yet light and filigreed on the palate, this is a pure, lush and round yet also very mineral, beautifully playful and palate-tickling Kabinett with less reduction than Molitor's Kabinetts usually show at this early stage. The sweetness is discreet and counterpointed by the immense mineral and saline drive. The finish is spectacularly long and tensioned, extremely complex and stimulating even at this age. This classic Kabinett reminds me of finest Scharzhofberger Kabinetts from Egon Müller. It is straight, sustainably saline, aromatic and charming. 10.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2023. Drinking Date: 2024-2060“

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.

- 96 Punkte, JANE ANSON: „Muscular and graceful, on the nose this starts subtly then builds quickly towards intense and gripping flavours of crushed slate, white peach, lemongrass, quince, starfruit, lychee, green mango and oyster shell, by turns sharp and angular then opulent and fleshy with the barest hint of sweetness. Extremely elegant (the grapes for the kabinett are picked before the Grosse Lage to retain acidity, with the fermentation stopped to leave around 18g/l of residual sugar depending on vintage), with plenty of the textural precision that Molitor wines are known for. Structured but welcoming, this deserves to be taken notice of. Mainly stainless steel for ageing, with a touch of oak for 10 months.“

- 95 Punkte James Suckling, Stuard Pigott (11/2023): „Very fresh and delicate nose of an entire garden of herbs, yellow grapefruit and pomelo. Juicier than the nose suggested with stacks of white tree fruits and citrus zest freshness on the medium-bodied palate, this is a youthful and very elegant riesling for the 2020 vintage. Emphatically dry and long for this theoretically off-dry category, but also finely etched. This has just reached its best youthful drinking form, but the party has only just begun! Drink or hold.“

- 95 Punkte, VINOUS: „The 2020 Riesling Serriger Vogelsang Kabinett is subtle on the nose, opening with smokier hints of slate that still clouds lemon and riper, juicier notions. It is on the palate that the full playfulness of that fruit becomes apparent: this is a Kabinett in a classic sense, off-dry rather than outright sweet, with tender notions of sweetish Mirabelle, citrus blossom and mandarin juice, encompassed by a stony, citric verve. Such lightness, such elegance, such poise, such brightness. The finish flickers with an overtone of pineapple, as befits the sunny 2020 vintage, but retains tone, tension and, above all, flavor. (Off-dry)“