Three Day Sale– Ends 9/16/23

 
Auslese… Beerenauslese… Trockenbeerenauslese. If your first impulse upon hearing these words is to offer a “Gesundheit,” then you may be missing out on some of the finest and yet overlooked wines ever made.
 
Generally speaking Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenauslese which are legally required to be picked at high sugar concentrations, are sweet wines AND YET these classifications only guarantee the sugar content at picking.
 
Some producers, such as Vinopolis favorite Markus Molitor, use different colored wine capsules to denote the dryness levels in the finished product. So even if it’s an Auslese, a White Kapsule (WK) is going to be a dry riesling with no perceptible sweetness. Green Kapsules are reserved for slightly off-dry wines and his Gold Kapsules (GK) are for truly off-dry wines with additional residual sugar and the powerful fruit flavors that accompany.

 

 

 

 
JJ Prum Bernkasteler Lay Auslese LGK 2017 750ml $189 special, 4 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 Points “The 2017 Bernkasteler Lay Auslese (Long Gold Capsule), AP 18 18, is very clear, intense and generous but precise on the nose, with lots of mango, ripe peach, mirabelle and honey aromas. On the palate, this is a generously rich but refined, finessed and lush Auslese with a salty-piquant finish that is intense, complex and long. Honey-sweet but still crystalline, transparent and really kicking, this is another gorgeous 2017 Auslese from the Prüm family.”
 
Emrich-Schonleber Halenberg Auslese Riesling 2020 750ml $66 special, 22 bottles available
James Suckling 98 Points “Very intense, candied yellow-grapefruit nose. Super-concentrated, but the most important thing about this Auslese is the incredibly tight focus on the palate and the purity of the dried apricot and mango. Super-succulent and vibrant finish that doesn’t want to stop. Drink or hold.”
 
Selbach-Oster Zelt Himmelreich Anrecht Auslese 2021 750ml $59 special, 12 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96-97 Points “The 2021 Zeltinger Himmelreich Auslese Anrecht opens with a very clear, intense and smoky bouquet of crushed rocks with flinty and iodine notes as well as nutty and yeasty ones. Full-bodied, lush and intensely mineral on the palate, this is a pure and elegant but juicy and refined Auslese with a long, crystalline and saline, well-structured finish. Good tension, grip and length. It’s a superb Riesling of the vintage and certainly a long-distance runner.”
 
Donnhoff Nieder Hermannshohle Auslese GK 2018 750ml $79 special, 9 bottles available
John Gilman 98 Points “The purity and precision of the 2018 Hermannshöhle Auslese is the stuff that legends used to be made from. The bouquet is complex and utterly refined, offering up scents of pear, white cherries, bee pollen, a touch of orange zest, lovely salinity and a mineral bath of slate. On the palate the wine is fullish, racy and utterly seamless in its balance, with great intensity of flavor, laser-like focus and truly stunning mineral drive on the backend (particularly for Auslese), with an endless and magical finish.”
 
Molitor Ockfener Bockstein Auslese *** WK 2017 750ml $99 special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 98 Points “The 2017 Riesling Ockfener Bockstein Auslese *** (White Capsule) is bright, deep and elegant on the nose, with perfectly ripe white-fleshed stone fruit and pineapple scents intertwined with very fine toast aromas. This concentrated and densely textured Bockstein reveals great energy and finesse with filigreed mineral tension and lingering, mouthwatering salinity. The finish is intense and delicate at the same time. A fabulous, not really dry but dry-styled Riesling of great complexity.”
 
Molitor Urziger Wurzgarten  Auslese** WK 2017 750ml $49 special, 36+ bottles available
Wine Advocate 96+ Points “Bottled with moderate 11% alcohol, the 2017 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese ** (White Capsule) is crystalline and super precise on the clear and flinty nose that exhibits crunchy, iron-rich stone and lime zest aromas. It is lean and fresh but dense and intense on the palate, with ripe, round and concentrated Riesling fruit, some sweetness and refined acidity. This is an elegant, highly finessed and stimulating Würzgarten with a lingering, salty-piquant finish. This wine pairs its moderate alcohol level with great complexity and mineral tension. It’s a fabulous yet still very young Würzgarten of extraordinary class and style.”
 
Molitor Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese** GK 2017 750ml $49 special, 32 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 Points “According to Markus Molitor, the 2017 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese ** (Golden Capsule) is made from entirely healthy grapes. It displays a highly attractive bouquet of fine grapefruit and raisin aromas intermixed with flinty-crystalline slate notes. Juicy on the palate, this is a dense, sweet, intense yet piquant, highly delicate Auslese with a long, refined and salty-crunchy finish.”
 
Molitor Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese*** WK 2019 750ml $119 special, 16 bottles available
Wine Advocate 98+ Points “The 2019 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese *** (White Capsule) offers a deep, ripe and highly intense yet refined and noble bouquet of ripe (tropical) stone fruits such as mango, golden passion fruit and persimmon, finely crushed and flinty slate as well as iodine notes. This is a sustainable Sonnenuhr that I have rarely tasted with such a firm and serious structure and initial austerity. The wine has salt and tannic grip on the finish, but it has to be aged for another 8-10 years at least.”
 
Molitor Zelt Himmelreich Auslese** Green 2016 750ml $59 special, 29 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 Points “The 2016 Riesling Zeltinger Himmelreich Auslese ** (Green Capsule) is terribly fine, pure and fresh but also perfectly ripe and rich on the nose without losing precision. Round and highly elegant on the palate, with tropical fruit flavors and just the perfect amount of sweetness, this is a great, vital Himmelreich with superb finesse, purity, mineral tension and bright fruit notes in the long and beautifully slatey finish. This is a gorgeous, exciting Riesling—very stimulating.”
 
Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese** WK 2017 750ml $66 special, 17 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 Points “From 80- to 120-year-old vines, the intensely citrus-yellow colored 2017 Riesling Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese ** (White Capsule) offers an absurdly deep, highly intense, complex and concentrated bouquet with lime confit, perfectly ripe white stone fruits and flinty notes of crushed stones and lemon zest. On the palate, this is a dense, rich and powerful yet highly elegant and seamlessly textured Sonnenuhr with very fine tannins and a tightly woven structure that channels the immense power of this dry Riesling. This is one of the finest two-starred Auslesen I have tasted from Markus Molitor, and it kisses the three-star level. I can only recommend buying some cases and enjoying this beauty over the next 20 to 30 years.”
 

 

 

 
J Christoffel Jr Urziger Wurzgarten Beerenauslese 2005 750ml $133 special, 3 bottles available
Wine Spectator 98 points “Lush, ripe Rieslings at all quality levels; acidity, though low in some, balances richness in most.”
 
Molitor Urziger Wurzgarten Beerenauslese 2017 375ml $149 special, 8 bottles available
Wine Advocate 100 Points “The 2017 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten Beerenauslese opens with a very clear, elegant, highly aromatic and finessed bouquet of ripe tropical and domestic fruits intermixed with stony notes. On the palate, this is a lush and salty-piquant BA with great mineral vitality and lingering energy on the finish. What a filigreed, lean, finessed and light-footed sweet wine with refreshing grapefruit notes on the nose and palate. This is incredibly elegant and refined, and I can’t imagine this BA could have been done any better. It’s incredibly charming and will tickle your palate now and forever. Tasted at the domain in April 2019.”
 
Molitor Zelt Sonnenhuhr Beerenauslese* 2018 375ml $119 special, 12 bottles available
Wine Advocate 100 Points “The 2018 Riesling Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Beerenauslese * is precise, clear and highly refined on the subtle, aromatic and flinty nose that represents perfect, early botrytis. Sweet and piquant on the crystalline and salty palate, this is a pristine, perfectly round and balanced BA with great finesse and elegance. Absolutely fabulous and complete. If you like it sweet, you can already enjoy this BA, due to its finesse and balance, but I’d cellar it for 15-20 years before I’d even think of drinking it. Sold in 375-milliliter bottles. Tasted at the domain in September 2020.”
 

 

 
Emrich-Schonleber Halenberg TBA Riesling 2018 375ml $299 special, 21 bottles available
Wine Advocate 98+ Points “The 2018 Halenberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese is incredibly pure and aromatic on the nose where super ripe but clear peach aromas are displayed. Extremely rich and refined on the palate, this is a ripe, terribly sweet but refined, fresh and salty-piquant TBA with a stimulating finish. A fabulous wine. Tasted in July 2019.”
 
Molitor Zelt Sonnenuhr TBA GK 2019 750ml $499 special, 12 bottles available
Molitor Zelt Sonnenuhr TBA GK 2019 375ml $249 special, 18 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 Points “The 2019 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Trockenbeerenauslese is deep, intense and flinty on the nose that exhibits clear, ripe and concentrated fruit with very fine botrytis notes intertwined with aromas of crushed slate and candied lemon rind. Round and elegant on the seamless palate, this is a rich yet finessed and elegant, super tensioned and mineral TBA with electrifying acidity and a highly stimulating finish. There are not many TBAs around that are as digestible as this one, which is really extraordinary. 6.5% alcohol. Tasted in May 2021 (AP 29 20).”
 
Friz Haag Juffer-Sonnenuhr TBA GK 2018 375ml $419 special, 12 bottles available
John Gilman 95 Points “The 2018 Juffer TBA is just a bit higher in residual sugar than the Beerenauslese this year, as Oliver estimates that it is around one hundred and eighty grams per liter. This too is a gorgeous wine in the making, offering up refined bouquet of mirabelle, honey, white cherries, candied violets, citrus zest and a nice touch of saltiness from the slate. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, creamy and very long and complex, with excellent focus and grip, sound acids and a very long, pure and zesty finish. Utterly captivating and borderline criminal to spit.”