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Peter Lauer

Like those of his near-neighbors the Lochs, Florian Lauer’s vines suffered peronospora in June and sunburn in late summer for a crop loss of nearly one-third vis-à-vis long-term estate averages. But like most German Riesling growers, he was able to take his time organizing and executing the 2016 harvest, which began near the end of September and did not finish until several days into November. “There really wasn’t much sun,” Lauer reported of the October weather – recollecting a bit differently from some of his neighbors – “but then, neither was there any rain.” The richness and opulence that characterize this year’s Lauer collection as a whole reflect moderate grape acids (further diminished by tartrate precipitation and in many instances malolactic transformation) accompanied by high must weights. But the highly successful Grosse Gewächse still finished well under 13% finished alcohol. There is also prominent piquancy almost throughout the present collection, which Lauer calls “a fine phenolic of citrus peel.” He suggests that this reflects the response of his vines and the skins of their berries to the scorching late summer sun. In view of vintage challenges and vicissitudes, he thinks of his excellent results as demonstrating “the beauty of chaos.” Lauer bottled several sweet wines, albeit in minuscule quantities, that benefit from a very light touch of botrytis. “I managed to get up to 110 Oechsle with some additional botrytized fruit,” he reported, “but the taste wasn’t encouraging, so I gave up trying to do any further selection.” Regrettably, I was not offered an opportunity to taste this year’s tiny bottling (once again, a Kabinett) from the recently recultivated Lambertskirch vineyard, nor the ostensibly lesser of two Lauer Auslesen. And speaking of recultivation, in early 2017 Lauer was able to acquire an additional parcel in the Schonfels, just upstream from the one whose old vines he almost miraculously restored from extended neglect a dozen years ago.

(For much more information on this estate, including its viticultural, vinificatory and labeling practices, consult the introductions to my accounts of its vintage 2014 and 2015 collections. A warning: my account of labeling practices is unavoidably convoluted, seeing that it reflects idiosyncratic estate traditions, legal complications, not to mention fatuous VDP regulations and restrictions. Apropos of the latter, bear in mind that as a VDP member, Lauer would not be permitted to label so many dry-tasting wines as “Ayler Kupp” – since that’s also how one of his three Grosse Gewächse is labeled – were it not for the fact that these other Ayler Kupp wines finished not quite legally trocken. It generally takes effort and patience nowadays to “encourage” a Riesling from these vineyards to reach legal dryness in these cellars, and other than his Grosse Gewächse, only three of Lauer’s 23 2016s did.)

From Saar & Ruwer: Beauties Despite a Bumpy 2016 (Mar 2018) by David Schildknecht

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1988 Brut Riesling Reserve

Release Price: $65

Color: Sparkling White

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Peter Lauer

1988 Brut Riesling Reserve

1984 Brut Riesling Reserve

2016 Riesling trocken Fass 16

2016 Riesling feinherb Alt Scheidt Barrel X A.P. 19

2016 Riesling Ayler Fass 25

2016 Riesling Ayler Fass 2

2016 Riesling Ayler Fass 6 Senior

2016 Riesling Ayler Fass 1

2016 Riesling Ayler Fass 4

2016 Riesling Ayler Fass 3

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Unterstenberg Fass 12

2016 Riesling Ayler Neuenberg Fass 17

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Stirn Fass 15

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Kern Fass 9

2016 Riesling Biebelhausener Feils Grosses Gewächs Fass 13

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Grosses Gewächs Fass 18

2016 Riesling Ayler Schonfels Grosses Gewächs Fass 11

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Kabinett Fass 8

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Kabinett Fass 5

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Spätlese Fass 7

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Spätlese ** Fass 23

2016 Riesling Schodener Saarfeilser Spätlese ** Fass 24

2016 Riesling Ayler Kupp Auslese lange Goldkapsel

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