Description

The estate of Peter Lauer was admitted into the prestigious VDP in 2012, further cementing it as one of Germany’s leading wine estates.

For purists, there is nothing like the Saar. Saar shows intensity without weight, grandiosity without size: rocks and acidity. Frank Schoonmaker put it best in his 1956 tome The Wines of Germany: “In these great and exceedingly rare wines of the Saar, there is a combination of qualities which I can perhaps best describe as indescribable – austerity coupled with delicacy and extreme finesse, an incomparable bouquet, a clean, very attractive hardness tempered by a wealth of fruit and flavor which is overwhelming.”

Yes, this is the Saar. Peter Lauer, founded in 1830, is currently one of greatest estates in this sacred place.

Florian Lauer is today making some of the best Riesling in Germany from his vines around the Saar town of Ayl.

The style at Lauer is quite the opposite of his famous Saar neighbours, Egon Müller and Hanno Zilliken – the focus at Lauer is for dry and off-dry Rieslings bottled from single sites, identified by their  cask number, as opposed to the Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese  wines of the latter two made using the German Prädikat System. Yet the hallmarks are similar: purity, precision, intensity, minerality.

The Lauer family estate is located in Ayl. Ayl is a small village on the west side of the Saar River. The estate is planted exclusively to Riesling; some parcels are around a century old. The great majority of wines are sourced from the famed Ayler Kupp. Ayler Kupp is a single mountain that has an intricate tapestry of parcels and sub-parcels. Florian uses the pre-1971 vineyard names to designate and highlight these parcels. Florian wants to give each terroir the chance to express its personality.

Kern, Stirn, Neuenbersch, and Unterstenbersch are all sub-parcels of the famous Kupp. Schonfels and Saarfeilser, though classified as part of the Ayler Kupp by current German wine law, are distinct and separate sites. To Florian’s credit, he treats them as such. Florian also uses cask numbers known as “fass” to designate his wines. The fass numbers are primarily based on the parcels that historically went into specific wines.

For example, ‘Fass 6 – Senior’ is based on a selection that Florian’s grandfather (Peter I) made every year. As the patriarch of the family, he would taste through the vintage and select one barrel for his personal consumption. On this barrel, he would write ‘Senior.’ According to Florian, 8-9 times out of 10, his grandfather would pick fass 6 (cask 6), which held wine sourced from the western-most region of the Kupp. Thus, today, the wine from this particular parcel is called ‘Fass 6 – Senior.’

Florian is a minimalist in their cellar. The only interventions are temperature control, a clarification prior to fermentation and battonage (stirring of the lees). The grapes ferment spontaneously with native yeast. Lees contact is allowed as well as some partial malolactic fermentation. As he describes it, “I don’t look for malo but I don’t avoid try to avoid it. It just happens in parallel.” This approach takes the edge out of the acidity, and if done with care, doesn’t add simplifying lactic notes. The end results are undeniable: depth, texture, dimension, and clarity.

The secret is out and the wines of Peter Lauer have now been well and truly discovered – the wines today have a cult following. With the super harvest in 2018 I strongly recommend that you secure these brilliant wines quickly!