Weingut Peter Lauer is one of the most soulful and expressive estates in the Saar, a place where Riesling becomes not just a wine but a voice, singing with slate, wind, and tension. At the helm is Florian Lauer, the fifth generation to tend the steep, historic vineyards around the village of Ayl. While the estate dates back to the 1800s, its modern renaissance truly began when Florian took over, bringing with him a deep reverence for tradition and a fiercely intuitive touch that has made him one of the most admired winemakers in Germany today.
Lauer’s vineyards are among the Saar’s most coveted: places like Kupp, Stirn, Neuenberg, Unterstenberg, and Kern, each a mosaic of ancient, fractured slate that catches the cool valley light and channels it into wines of extraordinary precision. These sites are steep, so steep that nearly everything must be done by hand, but they reward the work with fruit of astonishing purity and nerve. Instead of approaching the vineyards as fixed, monolithic blocks, Florian farms and vinifies them parcel by parcel, coaxing out the micro-expressions that make each slope, exposure, and soil variation unique. His wines aren’t just Rieslings; they are topographic stories.
In the cellar, Florian practices a restrained, thoughtful form of minimalism. Fermentations occur spontaneously in old Fuder casks; sulfur is used sparingly; interventions are almost nonexistent. The goal is always to preserve what the vineyard gives: clarity without sterility, texture without heaviness, and an emotional lift that feels unmistakably Saar. The resulting wines vibrate with tension, razor-sharp yet featherlight, often barely off-dry in the traditional German style, with a touch of residual sweetness that amplifies the mineral intensity rather than softening it.
Signature notes of lime blossom, crushed slate, green herbs, and white peach run through the estate’s dry and feinherb bottlings, while the Kabinett and Spätlese wines capture the Saar’s cooler, more crystalline face: shimmering acidity, filigreed fruit, and a finish that seems to hum long after the last sip. No matter the style, there is always balance. Always energy. Always a whisper of the river valley that shaped them.
Florian Lauer has earned a cult following among sommeliers, collectors, and Riesling devotees, not because he chases trends, but because he listens to the vineyards, to the vintage, and to the old vines that have watched the Saar change and evolve over centuries. Under his stewardship, Weingut Peter Lauer has become a benchmark not only for the region but for what Riesling can be at its most honest and expressive.
A bottle of Lauer doesn’t simply reflect terroir; it reflects a winemaker’s willingness to let the land speak freely. His wines capture the Saar’s signature magic: cool, racy, crystalline, and timeless, each sip a reminder that great Riesling is less a product and more a place.
