schiller-wine: Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Peter Lauer in Ayl, Upper Mosel, Saar Valley, with Katharina Lauer and Peter Lauer - Germany-North Tour 2019 by ombiasy WineTours: Quintessential Riesling

Pictures: Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Peter Lauer in Ayl, Upper Mosel, Saar Valley, with Katharina Lauer and Peter Lauer - Germany-North Tour 2019 by ombiasy WineTours: Quintessential Riesling

The Saar, a tributary to the Mosel river gives name to one of the 2 unique sup-regions of the Mosel wine region where crisp, more masculine Rieslings are made. Frank Schoonmaker wrote 1956 in ‘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.”

Florian Lauer, currently the head at the 100% Riesling Weingut Peter Lauer (20 acres), which was founded in 1830, produces exactly those kind of wines. His specialties are dry and just slightly off-dry Rieslings. The wines are spontaneously fermented with their natural yeasts.

When we visited Weingut Peter Lauer, Florian Lauer was out of the country. His sister Katharina Lauer was our host. Halfway through the tasting, senior boss Pater Lauer took over.

Pictures: Weingut Peter Lauer

Weingut Peter Lauer/ Vom Boden

Weingut Peter Lauer is imported into the USA by Vom Boden in New York City. Actually, we have met Florian Lauer many times at German wine events in New York City.

Vom Boden: It’s official: “Lauer has gone cult.”

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.

Florian’s playground is the breathtaking hillside of the Kupp. Though the many vineyards of this mountain were unified (obliterated?) under the single name “Kupp” with the 1971 German wine law, it has been Florian’s life’s work to keep the old vineyard names alive, to keep these voices alive. He has been fighting this fight since his first vintage in 2005 and only with an update to the law in 2014 can he now legally use the older vineyard names such as Unterstenberg, Stirn, Kern and Neuenberg.

Florian fought the law, and he won.

Pictures: Annette Schiller and Peter Lauer

In addition to the expanses of the Kupp, Lauer farms two other important sites, the Saarfeilser directly across the river and the precipitous, cliff-vineyard Schonfels, a bit upstream from the other two sites. Florian also recently cleared and replanted the famous Lambertskirch, just a stone’s throw from Schonfels. Everything is pretty well detailed on the map on the right.

The most important category of Lauer wines we’ll call the “terroir” wines. These are the Rieslings that have made Lauer so famous. These wines eschew the whole Prädikat system (Kabinett, Spätlese, etc) completely. They ferment spontaneously with natural yeasts and thus they find their own balance. In most cases they have a bit more residual sugar than a purely dry wine, yet not nearly enough sugar to be considered sweet. Let’s call them dry-tasting to off dry. First, there is the appellation-level Barrel X. This is Lauer’s Platonic ideal of what a Saar Riesling should be. If we were in Burgundy this would be the equivalent of a Bourgogne Blanc. As an appellation-level wine, it is sourced from multiple vineyards in three different villages of the Saar. This is always a thrilling off-dry and a silly value.

Next up the hierarchy is the “Senior.” While Lauer considers this a village-level wine (and prices it thusly), it is in fact a single-vineyard wine sourced completely from the Ayler Kupp. With an average vine age of around 70 years and a plethora of ungrafted vines, this is a wine that punches well above its price. Although there can be vintage variation, this wine is normally dry tasting.

The remaining wines in this category, the bottles with the golden circles on the labels, are the “Grand Cru” terroir wines. What is important here is the vineyard site: Unterstenberg, Stirn, Kern and Neuenberg. Each of these vineyards has its unique voice. Taste Unterstenberg next to Stirn. The difference in distance is only 300 feet, yet the wines are night and day

Lauer also produces three “Grand Cru” dry Rieslings, or GGs: Kupp, Feils (called Saarfeilser for many years, and denoted on the map as such) and Schonfels. For the Kupp, Lauer picks the best grapes from the heart of the Kupp, denoted by the area in red on the map above. The Saarfeilser and the Schonfels are both used nearly in their entirety for the GGs. Because of their immense structure, these wines are released later than all the others, normally in the winter/spring of the year following the harvest.

When the vintage allows it, Florian will craft Prädikat wines, the Kabinetts, Spät and Auslesen that we all know and once loved. As the focus of Lauer’s production is clearly on the dry and dry-tasting wines, the Prädikat wines are only made when the vintage is perfect for such wines. It is possible to have a vintage with only a Kabinett, or only a Spätlese. In nearly all cases, these wines are sourced from the Kupp and represent in fact a pre-selection of grapes. In other words, Lauer selects out the grapes that are ripening too quickly, or showing botrytis for these wines. The remaining grapes are left on the vine for the drier wines.

Part of the estate’s tradition is to use “fass,” or barrel, numbers as part of the identifier of each wine in addition to the vineyard name. Thus you have a wine such as “Unterstenberg – Fass 12.” The alignment of the vineyard site and the barrel may assist the natural-yeast fermentation, creating similar populations of yeasts in both environments. That said, the estate has grown over the last few decades and not all wines are always matched to the same barrel. The name “Barrel X” playfully suggests as much alluding to the fact it does not have its own barrel.

Pictures: Cellar Tour with Katharina Lauer, Weingut Peter Lauer

Interview with Florian Lauer by the VDP: "We're betting 100% on Riesling in the Fifth Generation"

VDP: What is so special about your winery?

Florian Lauer: In the fifth generation, we are 100 percent committed to Riesling - to the great variety of this unique and our only grape variety. It grows in centuries-old, traditional slate steep slopes, including the monopole "Lambertskirch". The cultivation in the vineyard is close to nature, as is the maturing in the cellar. The wines mature in wooden barrels, which are individually bottled after 100 percent spontaneous fermentation. In any case, our VDP.GROSSE LAGE® wines in the dry and finely bitter taste range as well as the production of exceptional sparkling wines are special: With us you will find reserve sparkling wines, some with 20 to 30 years of yeast storage on the bottle. We also recommend our own hotel and the restaurant of star chef Jörg Diekert.

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Florian Lauer: Bringing the landscape into the bottle. Focus on one grape variety and still achieve a high diversity of tastes. Achieve maximum elegance despite the concentration and depth of the wines.

VDP: What wine style do you strive for?

Florian Lauer: Our style of ageing ranges from extra dry to noble sweet. We have a clear style definition of our Rieslings. Dry means: harmonious and creamy. Feinherb means piquant and fruity. Fruity or noble sweet: elegance and finesse with a clear profile. Cabinet: healthy grapes without overripening. Spätlese: Overripe without botrytis. Auslese: Overripe with Botrytis. Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese: 100 percent Botrytis.

VDP:Which of your wines would you recommend to someone who does not yet know your winery - as an introduction, so to speak?

Florian Lauer: The dry to finely bitter Rieslings from the Unterstenberg plot in the VDP.GROSSEN LAGE® KUPP in Ayl. They are not legally dry, but have no perceptible sweetness due to the clear saltiness. The "sweet spot" of the Saarriesling!

VDP: Which wine are you particularly proud of?

Florian Lauer: On our Riesling from the VDP.GROSSE LAGE® KUPP plot Kern. The wine was voted Germany's best fine-tart Riesling three times by Gault Millau and was entered into the Hall of Fame of the Vinum Wine Guide in 2018. Also on our dry Riesling SCHONFELS from 100 year old vines with a typical peppery, salty note.

VDP: Why did you become a vintner?

Florian Lauer: During my agricultural studies, I also studied animal husbandry and arable farming and clearly stated that viticulture is by far the most beautiful form of agriculture. When I then studied viticulture in Montpellier, I was particularly intensively occupied with the topics of terroir, climate and processing traditions.

VDP:Do you have any role models?

Florian Lauer: My grandfather and my father.

VDP: What are your next goals?

Florian Lauer: Further sharpening and specification of our terroir: i.e. we will scientifically substantiate our wine style depending on the physical characteristics of the location.

VDP: How do you combine tradition and innovation?

Florian Lauer: One thing is clear: the most scientific study of wine counts for little without the sly heuristics of the forefathers. The champagne pressing of the wooden barrel maturation and the fact that we only grow Riesling in slate remain traditional with us.

Pictures: Tasting with Katharina and Peter Lauer

The Wines

We tasted 11 wines, including two sparkling wines.

2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Ayl, Riesling, Fass 2, extra dry
2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Ayl, Riesling, Fass 25, dry
2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Ayl, Riesling, Fass 6 SENIOR, dry to off-dry
2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Neuenberg, Riesling, Fass 17, dry to off-dry

2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Ayl, Riesling, Fass 4, off-dry
2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Ayl, Riesling, Fass 3, off-dry

2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Kupp, Riesling, Fass 8, Kabinett
2018 Weingut Peter Lauer, Kupp, Riesling, Fass 7, Spätlese
2017 Weingut Peter Lauer, Kupp, Riesling, Fass 10, Auslese