Year after year, Lauer's Stirn is the most exciting bottle to be released from the estate.

The 2016 Stirn is simply an awesome bottle.

Lauer’s entire 2016 line-up is awesome. The wines have a beautiful harmony and are crystal clear in their expression. The Stirn tops the list.

Everyone binged on the 2015 Germans and there’s risk of under-buying or outright missing the most successful 2016s, like the collections from Schaefer, Keller and Lauer. This would be a mistake. The 2016 Stirn is too brilliant of a bottle to overlook.

In the world of wine, the Saar possesses a unique calling card. The wines have an explosive tension, an architecture that is sharply defined, a multi-dimensional array of saturating flavor, and somehow, an almost magical impression of weightlessness.

The 2016 Stirn dramatizes these qualities. There's a grippy intensity and a featherweight finesse.

In German the word “Stirn” means forehead; this is the top part of the mountain, roughly 100 meters up a dramatic incline from the Unterstenberg. Here, in a wind-whipped, exposed vineyard with little soil, the vines struggle to ripen. The resultant wine flaunts high-toned citrus and a saline, lime-zest minerality. Although the overall effect is off-dry, the acidity in the Stirn is always among the most dramatic and soaring of any of Lauer’s bottlings

The 2016 is off-dry, clocking in at 9.5% alcohol. It has a stony core and zingy, energetic citrus notes that create a lovely sense of mouthwatering refreshment. A medley of herbs, stone fruits and floral notes add further interest and complexity.

In the 2016 Stirn, you get to witness Lauer in top form and the singular beauty of Saar Riesling in full display. This is a bottle you'll want to return to often and one which will be fascinating to track in the cellar.

To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.

Joe Salamone

Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits