TN: 2007 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Unterstenbersch Fass 12

WINE TALK
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  • 2007 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Unterstenbersch Fass 12 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (9/11/2010)
    All I can say is wow! After being consistently underwhelmed by the 2008 version of this wine I am in awe of the 2007. It started chartreuse/green and ended up with a beautiful yellow/chlorophyll color. The nose was clean and pure, dripping with riesling fruit and a hint if anise, and a light mineral sea breeze. In the mouth the wine became almost electric with equally compelling richness, freshness, cut, depth, balance, mineral, attack, finish… I bought two cases of the faß 6 for 2009 and only one sixer of the faß 12. I might have to add another six based on this performance. Pop and pour… greedily drank whole bottle over three hour stretch. (95 pts.)

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Is ths in a halbtrocken style?

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Lauer lists this as trocken bis feinherb, which is dry to half dry or medium dry( i think). It drinks like a trocken to me.

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Probably slightly more trocken than halbtrocken, but pretty much in that zone.

I was underwhelmed by the '08 at first especially relative to the Senior which I adored, but it only took a few months to come into its own and it’s now pretty super.

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Perhaps one could call it halbhalbtrocken.

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How bout 3/4 trocken. I felt like you did for the 2008, but this 2007 is soaring. I loved the 2008 Senior as well. Your notes are right on for both 2008s. Got five cases of Lauer’s 2009 coming so far.

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This producer is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

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[worship.gif]

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Just visited a few weeks ago. Stunning '09’s The Senior, Kern ad Schonfels were all brilliant as was the Saariesler which is from Ayler Kupp but not really as the site for this wine is far away from Kupp proper. The soil has galets like CDP. Florian called it his “Saar de Papes.” Crazy nose, herbal, floral, dill. So distinctive and complex. Feinherb style but the minerality is always on point and intense it still retained its fantastic structure. Great tension. More opulent fruit too than Kupp proper. One of the more fascinating Rieslings I’ve tasted. Also had Stirn '07 and that was a rock star as are most of Lauer’s '07’s. I think '09 is equal and maybe better.

Also had the Unstertenbersch Fass 12 from 2004 and it was drinking remarkably well with great secondary aromas. Smoke and leather on the nose but still was juicy and vibrant and downright electric on the palate. The wine had just stunning purity.

Lauer is a star. As are his vineyards.

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Thanks for the note.

The few Lauer wines that I’ve had have been wonderful, but my only nitpick is the pricing…

As a man of limited means, when I can find Willi Schaefer and Schafer-Frohlich for substantially less, it’s hard to justify the added expense.

Of course, I’m not comparing apples to apples and when you delve into the dry riesling realm, the Lauer wines start to not seem so expensive.

Is this producer already well known in Germany?

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Not sure what you’re paying for Lauer in your market but here both the Fass 6 and 12 were just sold for $22.40 and $33.60, respectively, much cheaper than Schaefer and Frohlich, but it’s a totally different genre of wine so I don’t see the comparison. Either way I find these wines to be an objective bargain and stupid cheap for what you get. Yeah, they’ve been considered an elite producer in Germany for awhile.

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Fair enough, I did see those prices at Crush… I think they were even cheaper in quantity (although the higher end bottlings are a lot more). They certainly are less expensive than the Schafer-Frohlich GGs although I wouldn’t group them into that bin either…

These almost seem to fall into a “new” category, perhaps you could call it the “Mosel Wine Merchant Old School Riesling” category? A category which I have been really enjoying… some of the Steinmentz and Knebel off dry wines have been really good as well.

How does the Fass 6 differ from the Fass 12? They are from different parcels… but are they vinified the same?

In any case, as you stated, great wines.

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Yes, definitely a different genre than either the sweet predicate wines or the superdry GG wines. I tend to put them in the same mental bucket as the dryish wines from AJ Adam.

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This is a late reply to your questions, but I thought it might be good to answer them. By the way, I love your quote “Mosel Wine Merchant Old School Riesling.” When I first started Mosel Wine Merchant (MWM), I wanted to import into the States a selection of the overlooked and traditional dry-tasting Mosel wines. Although I’ve since moved on from MWM, I’m still close to the growers and glad to see Dan Melia pushing MWM forward.

As you noted, Peter Lauer Fass 6 “Senior” comes from a section of the original Kupp hillside at the tail end of the slope. Some of Florian Lauer’s oldest vines are located in a dozen or so small parcels in this area. It pays homage to his grandfather, hence the name “Senior.” In most vintages the wine is slightly above 9 grams per liter residual sugar. It tastes more or less dry. You can read more up on this particular wine and his diverse sites on Kupp from my old MWM blog post: http://www.moselwineblog.com/?p=148

Fass 12 “Unterstenbersch” is an old place-name at the foot of the Kupp hillside. It’s a well-placed vineyard with weathered slate and 60-year-old vines. Florian wrote in dialect Unterstenber_sch_ instead of Unterstenberg, in order to avoid problems with the cellar authorities. (The 1971 German Wine Law reduced the number of single vineyards and disallows pre-1971 names on labels.) The style of wine is similar to “Senior,” that is both are anywhere between dry (trocken) and off-dry (feinherb). Unterstenbersch has a little more maceration and ages on its lees exclusively in old 1,000-liter barrels for about five months. “Senior” is a mix of barrels and tanks with about four months sur lie. Both wines are spontaneously fermented with ambient yeasts.

I would definitely consider the wines from Günther Steinmetz as old school, as well.