Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Unterstenberg Fass 12 Riesling 2024

Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Unterstenberg Fass 12 Riesling 2024

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.

The 2024 Unterstenberg No. 12, as it is referred to in the central part of the label, is a dry wine (with 5 g/l of residual sugar) made from fruit harvested in the similarly named prime Lieu-Dit forming the south-southwest facing, front part of the original Kupp hill (at the foot of the hill). This cask sample proves still very smoky and marked by residues from its spontaneous fermentation and reveals quite herbal and darker aromatics including plum, licorice, black tea, herbs, licorice, and smoke. The wine proves slightly fruitier on the palate, with a rounder and smoother texture. The finish is beautifully creamy and long. This is impressive in a richer and smoother style. Mosel Fine Wines