No 11 Schonfels Riesling GG - VDP.Weingut Peter Lauer

This "Grosses Gewächs" (Grand Cru) from VDP.Weingut Peter Lauer grows on one of the most unusual sites in the entire wine world: the Schonfels, a steep slate cliff high above the Saar. Around 1912, when Saar wines were among the most expensive wines in the world, the Riesling vines that still stand today were planted here: over one hundred and ten years old, ungrafted. These are ancient vines whose yields have shrunk to just a few liters of concentrated essence per vine. This combination – historical genetics, extreme steep cliff, and the classic blue Devonian slate – produces a wine that stands without a true counterpart in Germany.

In the glass, it presents itself in a light, luminous straw yellow. On the nose, an unusually complex bouquet unfolds: fine notes of liquorice, black seasoned salt, and white pepper, along with ripe yellow stone fruit, dried herbs, and the unmistakable slate spice of the Saar cliff. On the palate, the wine is dense, precise, and unusually juicy, supported by a cuttingly clear acidity and an intense, almost maritime salty minerality. The finish is enormously long, spicy, and almost bottomlessly deep.

The grapes are harvested exclusively by hand and gently pressed whole-bunch. Fermentation occurs spontaneously with natural yeasts from the vineyard, after which the wine slowly and unadorned matures on its fine lees, a classic Saar craft that aims for maximum clarity and authenticity of terroir. Produced in a dry style, the Schonfels GG remains uncompromisingly true to its origin: a Saar Riesling that unadulteratedly unites the extreme terroir of the rocky cliff and the ancient vines into a single, very great wine.

A VDP.Grosses Gewächs of absolute top-class, a wine that demands time and a large glass to show its full complexity. We recommend a few years of bottle aging to further gain depth and complexity. Impressive even in its youth, the Schonfels is a wine for the long haul.