Peter Lauer Fass 9 'Kern' Ayler Kupp 2021

Peter Lauer 'Kern' Ayler Kupp Faß 9 2021

It proves quite reduced and smoky at first, and needs quite a moment to reveal creamy notes of almond, ripe vineyard peach, greengage, lemon, herbs, and spices. The wine is light-weighted on the palate, and while the acidity feeling is on the low side, there no excessive sense of smoothness and the wine proves nicely balanced, so that the residual sugar is already well integrated and seems far lower than the analytic numbers would suggest. The finish is long, sappy, and superbly refreshing, with even great tension and freshness despite all the elements at play.

At the turn of the 20th century, when Saar wine was unimaginably expensive, tobacco manufacturer Kern, from Saarlouis, owned a piece of vineyard land in Ayler Kupp. The vines are 70 years old today. After the sun has finished its work on the hot slate stones during the day, the coolness rises up the hillside from the marsh below and noticeably lowers the temperature. This interplay of scorching heat during the day and coolness at night is the secret to the intense aromatic expression of this off-dry wine.

"Kern" is named after the 19th century industrialist that cleared this more-western part of the Kupp; it is a small parcel that spans the entire top-to-bottom reach of the Kupp. Thus, for me, the wine always has something of the lift and rigor of "Stirn" and something of the depth of wines like "Neuenberg" and "Unterstenberg." The vines are old here, well over 70-years-old, so the wine has some stuffing. It is most often well in that off-dry style, yet, with Lauer, it's always about the balance.-Vom Boden