WineLovers Discussion Group

It's now official. Beginning in January 2013, Peter Lauer will be the newest member of the Grosser Ring, VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. Congratulations, Florian.

Lars Carlberg wrote:It's now official. Beginning in January 2013, Peter Lauer will be the newest member of the Grosser Ring, VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. Congratulations, Florian.

A well-deserved honor, though perhaps a dubious one.

Mark Lipton

I'm pleased for now, but if this means the Schonfels turns into a a super-expensive GGs in a heavy, oversized bottle that barely fits in my storage boxes (the typical GG packaging it seems), I'll be rather unhappy.

Mark: Let's hope not. Moreover, Florian is a modest and good-natured grower. He's not looking to jack up prices.

Salil: Agreed. I don't like the pretentious packaging either. Nonetheless, the VDP now has the new GG bottles, as Erste Lage is a step down from Grosse Lage. They had to change the bottles because the old logo was the Erste Lage symbol. In the Mosel region, the only producers that used the heavy, 35-cm Erste Lage bottles for their GGs were von Kesselstatt and Willi Schaefer. I don't know if it's a requirement to bottle all GGs in the new look. If not, Florian will just stay with the 35-cm bottles for all his top wines. The rest of his collection will go in the shorter (my preference) 33-cm bottles.

auction bottles, oversized glass...what more could a wine lover want...

What a coincidence: I ran into Florian's father, Peter Lauer (II), at a wine bar this evening. He thinks the new GG bottles might be a requirement.

Last night, I was invited to a special dinner at Immich-Batterieberg with a select group of Mosel growers: Andreas J. Adam, Thorsten Melsheimer, Johannes Haart (Reinhold Haart), Florian Lauer (Peter Lauer), Stefan Steinmetz (Günther Steinmetz), Konstantin Weiser (Weiser-Künstler), Daniel Vollenweider, Olaf Schneider (Weingut O.), and Gernot Kollmann (Immich-Batterieberg). Gernot, who was host, prepared an excellent meal as always and asked each of the growers to bring some of their best wines. We were joined by a group of producers visiting from the Rhône Valley.

Anyhow, I got a chance to speak with Florian Lauer. He doesn't believe that the heavy glass bottles with the new GG embossment are a requirement. As for pricing, his GGs will be like other VDP members. He plans to use one of his old-vine parcels that now goes into Kupp 56 Fass 18 as GG. His other two GGs should come from parts of Saarfeilser and Schonfels.

Lars Carlberg wrote: As for pricing, his GGs will be like other VDP members.

A small price to pay for working the steep-slopes. Weinbau in Germany is hard work wherever you do it, but even more so for the Mosel (or Mittelrhein or Rheinfront.) We need to start paying for that work if we really prize the wines.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Hooper wrote:

Lars Carlberg wrote: As for pricing, his GGs will be like other VDP members.

A small price to pay for working the steep-slopes. Weinbau in Germany is hard work wherever you do it, but even more so for the Mosel (or Mittelrhein or Rheinfront.) We need to start paying for that work if we really prize the wines.

Cheers,
Bill

You make a great point, Bill. In general, the prices paid for grape-growers working the steep slopes should be higher, especially the old-vine plots in sections without Flurbereinigung.

Last week, I stopped by Peter Lauer and A.J. Adam to taste cask/tank samples of the 2012s.

Florian Lauer said that he can apply for an exception in order to avoid using the new GG-embossed bottle. Instead, he can continue to use for his top wines the 35-cm Schlegel bottle. If the wines ferment trocken, he might bottle GGs from Schonfels, Saarfeilser, and a core section of Kupp. Saarfeilser is already designated a Grosse Lage (St. Urbans-Hof). Schonfels and a part of Kupp will be given this status, too.