Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Stirn Fass 15 Riesling 2023

Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Stirn Fass 15 Riesling 2023

The Lauer family estate, founded in 1830, is located in Ayl, 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. The style here from Florian Lauer is quite the opposite of his famous Saar neighbours, Egon Müller and Hanno Zilliken – focusing on 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.

Stirn is located high up Ayler Kupp. Optimally oriented to the south and steep, the Riesling vines catch a maximum of sunrays here. The ground is littered with coarse slate stones and is shallow. The water flows rapidly down into the valley. The vines, therefore, have to be deeply rooted in the rock to give the old vines with their small berries extract. Elegant, almost weightless, with invigorating, cool minerality, Stirn is a great Saar site.

"The 2023 Riesling Ayler Kupp Stirn No. 15, picked on the crest of the Ayler Kupp at almost 275 meters, benefits from a south-facing but cool and ventilated location. Old vines yield tiny grapes and an airy sense of ripe peach and apricot rises dreamily from the glass. The palate frames this in rock and salty savor, yet the bright, sunny note of stone fruit shines and charms with immense purity. Deeply anchored in stone, it takes off. Absolutely lip-smacking." 96 Points - Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous