Markus Molitor Graacher Himmelreich Pinot Noir*** 2014 750ml

The 2014 Pinot Noir Graacher Himmelreich *** opens with a deep, concentrated, very aromatic yet fine and superbly balanced bouquet of perfectly ripe, sweet forest berries and dark cherries intermixed with noble toast, very fine crunchy/flinty slate and wild herbal notes including coriander and potted ginger. There is a tiny touch of potted plums and fat nougat here as well, so the three-starred Himmelreich is perhaps the least reductive of Molitor’s outstanding 2014 Pinot Noir series. (Molitor says the Graacher had a high pH of 0.1 or 0.15 compared the the Trarbacher.) However, this is so generous and elegant on the nose, where everything is just as it should be—a beauty filled in bottles. Full-bodied, refined and voluptuous on the palate, with perfectly ripe fruit and a tender, highly finessed and silky character, this is a dense, intense and incredibly juicy Pinot Noir with great intensity, very tine tannins and a seductive texture. The finish is long, concentrated, intensely aromatic and endlessly juicy, with hints of ripe blackberries, but at the same time, it is still pure, fresh and fine, with exciting tension thanks to the vibrating mineral structure and expression. Although I love the more transparent, silky/filigreed and delicate style of the Trarbacher Schlossberg at least as much, the Himmelreich delivers more flesh and fruit to the palate. The extraordinary number of 2,400 bottles (more than ever before) were filled in August 2017. I tasted the wine three times in March 2018, and I am still in love.