2022 Weingut Peter Lauer, Riesling Trocken, Neuenberg No. 17, VDP Grosse Lage, Saar, Germany.
Coming from the historic Grand Cru Ayler Neuenberg, this beautiful and textural dry Riesling from Weingut Peter Lauer, this No. 17 Neuenberg Trocken, basically a GG, shows off a full range of classic Riesling flavors, aromatics, concentration and has a youthful intensity, giving an idea of the long rewarding future this wine surely has, very impressive. This steely 2022 is beautifully fresh golden in the glass and performs impeccably on the palate with a thrill of acidity and layers of white peach, apple, pineapple, lime and quince fruits, along with smoky mineral, crystalized ginger, clove tea, bitter almond and citrus blossom. Florian Lauer is known mostly his drier wines that are in stark contrast to his famous Saar neighbors Egon Müller and Hanno Zilliken, and at Lauer, as noted by their importer Vom Boden, the focus here is on the dry-tasting Rieslings, as opposed to the higher residual sugar wines of the mentioned more traditional Egon Mueller and Zillken. I learned that this Neuenberg, Fass 17, or No. 17, is made from carefully sorted grapes in this prime Lieu-Dit terroir forming the south-southwest facing slops on slate based soils, on the central part of the original Kupp hill, one of the most famous sites in the Saar.
The Peter Lauer estate, as noted here in previous reviews, in the Saar, with winemaker Florian Lauer is one of best in this region just off the Mosel in and the wines all show a terroir dominant profile with crystalline purity, mineral intensity with lots of dry extract, tension and vinous texture, but with a divine sense of lightness to them. The vines are old here, at Peter Lauer, are well over 70-years-old with mostly slate intense soils with subtle changes in soil composition, exposition, altitude, and micro-climate as well as vine age all play influential roles, giving each wine their own soulful expression. Coming into the winery the golden Riesling grapes are whole-cluster pressed directly in a gentle pneumatic press, with the juice occasionally pumped back in for a short maceration with the skins. Florian Lauer does his Riesling fermentations with native yeasts and is committed to very natural style with no fining agents or any other additions are ever added, except a touch of SO2. The Lauer wines see a fairly short aging period with elevage in a combination of vessels, with the majority done in stainless steel, but also fiberglass vats and with most of the Cru trocken(s), like this one, going into traditional Fuder oak casks for 1-6 months. There’s so much to love here at Lauer, with the Grosses Gewachs leading Lauer’s lineup, which includes the Barrel X, a fresh off dry Riesling that has its own cult like following and it is the appellation-level or regional expression that is Lauer’s Platonic ideal of what a Saar Riesling should be.
($58 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive