Weingut Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken

This historic producer, often simply called “Zilliken,” is a relationship we recently renewed at Lay & Wheeler after enjoying several superb older examples from our own cellar. Hans-Joachim (“Hanno”) and his wife Ruth Zilliken mark the tenth generation to make wine predominantly around their famed Saarburger Rausch vineyard. They barrel ferment all of their wines using natural yeasts and traditional “moselfuder casks”, some of which are more than a half-century old. With long, cool fermentations allowing complex flavours to emerge slowly, these are Rieslings to age with the very best. With the eleventh generation, their daughter Dorothee, joining in 2007 after training in Geisenheim, the Pfalz and South Africa, Zilliken is well-positioned to uphold the family tradition, and with it, production of some of the finest wines of the Mosel.