Wine of the Year #1: Joe's Pick

When Florian Lauer took over his family’s estate in 2005, he set out on a brutal undertaking: bringing the Schonfels vineyard back.

It was a painstaking process of nursing vines back to health and clearing the vineyard. Florian had tasted old wines from this site, composed of 100-year-old ungrafted vines, and knew that it was special.

The vineyard is one of the steepest in the Saar. For Florian’s father, Schonfels’ low-yielding old vines and the backbreaking labor involved were completely impractical. By the time Florian took over in 2005, the vineyard had been abandoned for decades. In rejuvenating Schonfels, Lauer introduced one of the Saar’s greatest, most mineral, and most complicated wines.

It’s perhaps not surprising that my 2025 Wine of the Year comes from this extraordinary site. 

It's equally important to underscore that Lauer's 2024s are simply incredible. The 2024s have a profound, singular balance.  Nowhere is this more obvious than in the Schonfels Kabinett. 

Lauer is a master of Kabinett. Few others craft Kabinetts with such lithe focus and impact, combined with intricacy. Kabinett is one of Germany's unique contributions to the world of wine, and Lauer consistently turns out examples that are among the most captivating.

The 2024 Schonfels Kabinett has an unreal density and sleek steeliness. It's a perfect example of intensity without weight, which is Lauer's calling card. There is incredible delicacy with a beautiful expression of slate and a fine acidity. 

There are a multitude of approaches I take to selecting my wine of the year. Here you have one of my favorite producers, whom I've worked with for seventeen vintages, simply nailing a wine from a top site.

In short, the 2024 Schonfels Kabinett is an opportunity to witness one of Germany's great vineyards in all of its glory. It felt almost essential to pick this as my Wine of the Year.

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

Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits