For purists, there is nothing like the Saar. It is arguably one of the greatest, most unique wine-growing regions on earth. The core of greatness in the Saar is intensity without weight, grandiosity without size. 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 and Florian Lauer is currently one of the greatest winemakers in this sacred place.
Florian’s general style is exactly the opposite of his famous Saar neighbors Egon Müller and Hanno Zilliken. At Lauer, the focus is on dry-tasting Rieslings as opposed to the residual sugar wines of the latter two. Employing natural-yeast fermentations, Lauer’s wines find their own balance. They tend to be more textural, deeper and more masculine. They have a preternatural sense of balance, an energy that is singular. Yet the hallmarks of the Saar are there: purity, precision, rigor, mineral.
$247.20
Ayler Riesling Fass 2 is very clear and delicate on the pure, floral and flinty nose with its bright, graceful and precise fruit aromas. Intense and juicy on the palate,...
$555.60
The acidity of Peter Lauer's Fass 23 single vineyard Kupp Auction wine is terribly fresh, as is the mineral fundament of this Riesling whose botrytis note is very discreet and...
Temporarily out of stock
The Ayler Kupp Unterstenberg Fass 12 offers a dark, flinty and still yeasty/earthy bouquet with ripe, darker-toned fruit and fresh peanut aromas. The nose is quite complex and very promising....
Temporarily out of stock
The Ayler Riesling Fass 4 is super clear, fresh and piquant on the ripe and quite intense nose. The palate is round, lush, very elegant and fine, with crystalline acidity...
Temporarily out of stock
Picked on Beerenauslese level (115° Oechsle), the 2018 Kupp Auslese GK is super intense but also fine and slightly flinty on the bright, fresh and slatey-mineral nose. Lush and precise...