Florian Lauer’s position in German wine is unquestionably established, but any time is a good time to add him to your personal roster of favorite winemakers. The tributary sub-region of the Mosel called the Saar, where Lauer calls home is known for producing riesling that seems nearly paradoxical at times. Wines that maybe reconcile rather than vacillate between strength and delicacy, baroque and austere. Many of the names on his cuvées are specific vineyards he fought to get re-recognized in 2014 after they were consolidated under one name in 1971. It’s an old story, but how many of us can say we’ve changed the law? All of this is to say Florian starts at a high bar, has a clear vision, and listens to what his wines are telling him.
What’s often daunting about German wine, is that the inherent human desire for categorization is really taken to heart. Names and classifications easily cross into the perilous realm of word salad, and in German no less. Großes-Geswächs or GG bottlings come from Grand Cru vineyards, which like other European counterparts, sit at the very top of the German vineyard hierarchy. As opposed to other European appellation systems, which are governmental bodies, a private and invitation-only organization of 200 producers called the VDP determines what vineyards are named Grand Cru and the rules surrounding their production.
At the very least, one can always expect certain qualities in GG wines. First, they’re always made from optimally ripe, hand harvested grapes grown in the highest designated vineyard sites. Many of which have been mapped as such long ago based on their demand in the wine market so they can be taxed accordingly. Second, they’ll always drink completely dry. Legally, there must be less than 10g of residual sugar per liter. Which, in cold Mosel cellars, is often just the natural result of leaving the fermentation alone in large fuder to do its thing. Now don’t let the mention of sugar turn you off. Wines with these levels of acidity and extraction, need a little lingering sugar or otherwise taste exceedingly harsh and austere. One might not know it, but that unexplainable quality that makes a favorite wine so drinkable, could very well be a little bit of sugar lingering in the wine.
Enter in the beauty of current GG riesling from the Saar. It’s cold, like one of the coldest places you can make wine. In the vineyard this had meant the grapes can harbor that brutal acidity and ensuring there was some natural grape sugar left over was the way to keep them from drinking too harshly. Sure, they tasted dry anyway because of that acid/sugar balancing act, but they weren’t achieving the same effect as other German dry wines. By-the-book dry riesling is actually a recent development in the Saar. Combine this new breadth, with the personality of Florian Lauer’s winemaking, and the hallmarks of Saar wine, and you’ve really got something.
So what do these GG’s taste like? For that, we have to turn to the expertise of Vom Boden and their 2021 assessment. To quote a small selection from the source:
“At the moment, in fact, these wines are so “Kabinett Trocken” that I would honestly beg people to give them as much time and space as possible. We opened the trio recently for the entire vom Boden group (as well as some collector-friends) and we all sat there in silence, trying to make sense of anything… the wines were simply too dense for any analysis.
They tasted like winter lightning bolts wrapped in citrus oil and sea salt. It’s like getting smacked in the face and asked to describe the texture of the skin on the hand that just slapped you.
Day two, however, cleaning up after our big dinner, I re-tasted the nearly-full bottles and they began to take on their unique shapes: the Feils dense yet expansive, micro-plush (if one can write that?), the Kupp complete and super-fine, the Schonfels pure mineral.
Late on day three they were just heartbreaking. So good that I drank all the remaining wines, even though I had told a colleague I’d save some for him and even knowing that, tomorrow, the wines would be even better.”
Wine in general can be hard to decode. German wine, especially those beyond entry level selections, prove to be even more difficult. However, it’s something that we want to share and hopefully simplify so these wines are more widely discussed outside of our small wine dork circles. They’re not necessarily a secret anymore but still feel a little more attainable than some counterparts when it comes to looking for something nice, ageworthy and ultimately pleasurable.
-Matt Dowden
