The nearly 200-year-old Peter Lauer winery is located in the picturesque wine-growing village of Ayl, not far from the world-famous Ayler Kupp vineyard. The family business is now run by Florian Lauer in the 5th generation and was admitted as the last member of the VDP in 2013. Finally, connoisseurs of the winery will say, because the Lauers had already delivered one outstanding collection after another, despite some difficult vintages, proving that their Rieslings are among the best in the region. Their fine-dry Riesling "Kern" from the heart of the Ayler Kupp has been awarded the title of Germany's best fine-dry wine three times by Gault & Millau! The highlight so far should be the 2016 vintage, in which the Peter Lauer winery was chosen as the rising star of the year in Gault & Millau and also shone with the best collection of the year in the same renowned wine guide. Today, the estate cultivates around 10 hectares of steep slopes around Ayl. The most famous of these is the Ayler Kupp, an old Umlaufberg (a type of hill formed by glacial erosion) of the Saar, which, with its perfect south-facing exposure and finely weathered blue slate soils, produces complex Rieslings with exotic fruit aromas. Furthermore, after joining the business in 2005, Florian Lauer painstakingly reclaimed a vineyard over 100 years old in the Schonfels vineyard. This impressive vineyard is located on a barren, steep rock slope high above the Saar and produces one of the most expressive and fascinating Große Gewächse (highest quality German wine) year after year. Last but not least, the Lauers also own a plot in the Feils vineyard, a unique vineyard because it lies on a kind of peninsula between the old arm of the Saar and the canalized part of the Saar, and the first half-meter of soil consists of a mixture of river pebbles and sediment deposited there during the canalization of the Saar. This specific terroir gives the wine a uniquely fine texture and crystal-clear aroma. The Lauers' newest project is just a stone's throw from the Schonfels. There, not far from a small chapel, the Lauers breathed new life into a small, fallow plot of land 10 years ago and planted it with the finest Riesling vines. Today, excellent Kabinett and Spätlese wines are produced in the Lambertskirch vineyard, characterized by their unique aroma, which often evokes spice notes such as nutmeg and cubeb pepper.
Commented [MK5]: Use a different picture from the photoshoot!
reminds, distinguishes. However, it was a long and arduous journey to this impressive portfolio of vineyards…




"There are several Peter Lauers"

Since its beginnings in 1830, the winery has been located in the heart of Ayl. Matthias Lauer, Florian Lauer's great-great-grandfather, married the daughter of Matthias Könen in 1904, and shortly thereafter, in 1906, Peter Lauer I. was born. His father, Matthias, took over the in-laws' business in 1913 and expanded it until shortly before the First World War. After the war, Peter Lauer I. trained as a vine-grower and took over the business in 1938, shortly before the Second World War. Shortly after the end of the war, in 1949, Peter Lauer II. was born, and since then it has been a family tradition that the firstborn male descendant bears the name Peter. A short time later, in 1956, the Lauers had the unique opportunity to expand the business by purchasing the renowned Saarburg winery Notar Tappen-Mungenast. This allowed them to secure excellent plots in Neuenberg, Unterstenberg, and Feils. In 1973, Peter Lauer II., Florian Lauer's father, took over the winery and subsequently worked on building the winery's current reputation. Since the father-son team of Peter and Florian Lauer have jointly managed the business since 2006, the Lauer Rieslings have reached a completely new level of quality and stand nationally and internationally for a highly individual, expressive Riesling type.



"Traditional winemaking, time and patience for great Rieslings"

The Peter Lauer winery has always focused 100% on Riesling grapes grown on steep slate slopes. These are cultivated using organic methods. However, Florian Lauer does not pursue certification because he strictly rejects the use of copper, as this heavy metal accumulates in the soil over the years, significantly impairing biodiversity and soil life. Therefore, the winery completely avoids spraying insecticides and herbicides and fertilizes its vineyards exclusively with fresh cow and horse manure from nearby Ayler stables. During the grape harvest, the grapes from individual plots are strictly separated and harvested by hand before being macerated for a longer or shorter period, depending on the vintage, and then gently pressed. The maceration time gives Lauer's Rieslings their intense aroma and silky texture, among other things. The musts are then spontaneously fermented with natural yeasts from the vineyard and the old vaulted cellar in traditional Mosel fuder barrels. The use of animal fining agents is completely avoided, making the wines vegan. The Rieslings rest on the lees until shortly before bottling, and in some barrels the yeast is stirred occasionally (batonnage), giving them a particularly silky texture and full-bodied mouthfeel.



"The Story of the Barrel Numbers"

One of the absolute unique features of the Peter Lauer winery is the bottling and labeling of individual barrels with numbers on the label. This goes back to the winery founder, Peter Lauer I, who, initially not very spectacularly, like most winemakers, also numbered his barrels in the cellar. However, he came up with the groundbreaking idea of fermenting the musts of the individual plots in the same barrel every year. Since the natural yeasts can overwinter in the open wood pores, a unique yeast culture has developed in each individual barrel after years of repetition. This is specifically adapted to the respective wine, is particularly alcohol-tolerant, for example, and is therefore ideally suited for the production of dry wines. This gives you, dear customers, the invaluable advantage that every barrel bottling of the Lauers is stylistically absolutely comparable from vintage to vintage. An example: Barrel 25 is always the dry local wine with smoky, mineral notes and fine melt, barrel 4 is always the delicious, semi-sweet fun wine that is accessible earlier, etc. Therefore: If you have once found your favorite barrel, you can buy it practically every year without hesitation, as you know exactly what to expect. Of course, every vintage is fortunately different and your favorite barrel will be lighter/stronger, more or less acidic, but the basic style, such as taste direction (dry/semi-sweet/sweet) and aroma is absolutely comparable every year! In addition, some bottlings not only show the barrel number, but also the name of the respective plot. This is a reaction of the Lauers to the nonsensical effects of the 1971 wine law. This had led to the fact that practically all vineyards around Ayl (Rauberg, Scheidterberg and Sonnenberg) were allowed to be marketed as Ayler Kupp, although they differ significantly in their location, exposure and soil structure, so that even inexperienced laymen could easily perceive the taste differences of the respective wines. The Lauers did not want to accept this dilution of the taste profile of the original Ayler Kupp and so they took the origin concept to the extreme and even write the names of the individual plots on the label of their top wines. Thus, the fine-dry top Riesling "Unterstenberg" comes from the lower foot of the Ayler Kupp, where the slightly deeper soils with good water supply lead to the wines becoming slightly riper and fuller-bodied. In contrast, just a few meters away, on the highest slope of the Ayler Kupp, Rieslings grow in the "Stirn" plot, which are exposed to wind and weather all year round on the barren, skeletal soil and thus produce very tight, sinewy wines. The quartet of plot-specific Ayler Kupp bottlings is completed by two more Rieslings. The "Kern" vineyard, a few meters away, is the prime piece of the Ayler Kupp in the middle Gewann with perfect exposure and good water supply, and "Neuenberg", a plot in the newer part of the Ayler Kupp. Finally, the Lauers indicate the sweetness level of their wines by means of a symbol in the bottom center of their labels. T stands for dry, TF for dry to fine-dry, therefore wines that, according to their residual sugar, can no longer be legally described as dry, but taste quite dry (an example would be barrel 6 "Senior") and F for fine-dry.



"The dry and semi-sweet wines set standards"

Peter Lauer's wines are characterized by their expressive, mineral, and sometimes extreme style. The full-bodied, aromatic Gutsriesling forms the foundation of Lauer's portfolio, followed by mineral-rich, expressive village wines and, at the top, demanding terroir wines from Grand Cru vineyards with great aging potential, some from vines over 100 years old. Florian Lauer's dry and semi-dry wines set standards in the region. His residual-sugar-sweet predicate and especially auction wines are often borderline-genius treasures, which, with their sometimes razor-sharp acidity and explosive aromas, unleash a true fireworks display on the palate. The grapes are uncompromisingly selected to clearly highlight the individual predicate levels: healthy, just-ripe grapes with crisp acidity for Kabinett, healthy, overripe, golden-yellow berries for Spätlese, overripe berries with Botrytis for Auslese, 100% noble rot grapes for Beerenauslese, and 100% noble rot, highly resinous grapes for Trockenbeerenauslese. This strengthens the profile of the individual predicate levels and makes them clearly understandable.



"Secretaries for whiskey lovers"

Another specialty of the house is the production of absolutely exceptional sparkling wines, which are only brought to market after an extremely long period of yeast aging, sometimes over 30 years. These unique sparkling wines from the vintages 84, 87 and 92 are absolute rarities. They amaze with their distinctive aroma, which is characterized on the one hand by an incredible freshness and
On the other hand, they are characterized by exceptionally complex, smoky-salty aromas that will delight whisky lovers among you, dear customers. At the latest when you look at the label, your jaw should drop, because we are dealing here with dry (Brut) and partly extra-dry (Brut Nature) Riesling sparkling wines that only have 9.5% alcohol. In fact, Kabinett was used as the base wine for the sparkling wine back then, which makes the whole thing even more incredible! These exceptional sparkling wines are best enjoyed in larger glasses, as they significantly improve with air after the long time on the yeast and gradually unfold their complex aromas. If you don't want to enjoy these unparalleled rarities solo, we recommend some of our dream food pairings: smoked eel with wasabi or generally any fatty fish from the smokehouse, smoked ham, sushi, and curiously, these sparkling wines also pair excellently as a counterpoint to hearty German home cooking like green cabbage with sausage!