"Grand Cru" in every conceivable way; priced for the everyday.
As we've written many times, this is simply one of the greatest values in white wine, period.
Sourced from 70- to 80-year-old ungrafted vines in a cooler section of the Grand Cru Kupp vineyard, the fact that this bottle can be had for as low as $24.95 is one of the great miracles of the wine world.
This is absolutely a Grand Cru Riesling that's priced at the level of many basic summertime house whites. For this reason, it is a wine bought by the most serious collectors as much as it is a wine bought for the weekday treat.
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With "Senior," the solid-case purchase is not at all uncommon.
"Senior" is one of our most cherished bottles, a perennial staff favorite for over fifteen years. The bottle's arrival marks the beginning of summer as much (or more?) than Memorial Day.
It is the balance, the singular play of sugar and acid that makes "Senior" invigorating, perplexing, thrilling. No one has mastered the art of balance quite like Lauer, or quite like the Saar.
The 2023 edition simply explodes from the glass, with a thrilling tension between an exuberant ripeness and a brisk structure. This is one of the most dry "Seniors" Lauer has ever made, clocking in right around ten grams of residual sugar.
If the 2022 was about its linear presentation, the 2023 is about the structure. The pure joy of the peach and stone-fruit-forward palate chiseled by an almost textural slate structure is just mouth-watering. The wine feels opulent, restrained, enlivened, energized.
This is one of the more serious "Seniors" of the last decade. While it's drinking incredibly well right now, one has the sense that this could go 10+ years and only have more to offer.
If a multitude of estates have followed Lauer into this complex, dry-tasting category, simply no one has been able to match the uncanny elegance and poise of Lauer's top bottles.
For this, to say nothing of the Prädikat wines and his GGs, Florian Lauer has taken his rightful place as one of the acknowledged greats of German wine.
All of this, for only $24.95. Does it get any better?
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
In Stock and Pre-arrival - Limited Quantities
2023 Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Senior Fass 6750 ml
Special 6-pack pricing for a limited time. Use Code:Senior23