Weingut Peter Lauer

Viticulture has been carried out in the Könen/Lauer house in Ayl on the Saar since 1830. Winegrower Matthias Lauer married the daughter of Matthias Könen in 1904, took over the winegrowing business in 1913 and added his own vineyard holdings to it. Peter Lauer (I), born in 1906, trained in growing and grafting vines and took over the family winery in 1938. In 1956 the estate bought Weingut Notar Tappen-Mungenast in Saarburg, adding parcels in Neuenberg and Untersten Berg within Ayler Kupp and its first holding in Feils. Peter Lauer (II), born in 1949, took over the estate in 1973. From 2006, father Peter and son Florian worked together in vineyard and cellar, and Florian Lauer took over the winery from his father that year. The estate joined the VDP in 2013.

• 1830: viticulture in the Könen/Lauer house in Ayl
• 1913: Matthias Lauer takes over the winegrowing business
• 1938: Peter Lauer (I) takes over the family winery
• 1956: purchase of Weingut Notar Tappen-Mungenast in Saarburg, with parcels in Ayler Kupp and Feils
• 1973: Peter Lauer (II) takes over the estate
• 2006: Florian Lauer takes over from his father
• 2013: VDP membership

Florian Lauer, the fifth generation of the family in the business, studied agriculture and then viticulture in Montpellier, and took over the winery from his father Peter in 2006. In April 2026 he withdrew from the active business of the estate and now works only as an advisor behind the scenes, while remaining one of three managing directors. The other two, both previously employees of the estate, are Max Kirsch, responsible for external operations, finance and personnel, and cellar master Max Zellerhoff, who also handles the winery's communication.

• Florian Lauer: took over in 2006; from April 2026 an advisor and one of three managing directors
• Max Kirsch: external operations, finance and personnel
• Max Zellerhoff: cellar master and communication
• Peter Lauer (II): took over in 1973 and worked alongside his son from 2006

The estate grows Riesling in steep slate sites around Ayl: Ayler Kupp, the Saar Feilser directly above the river, and the steeply sloping Schonfels a little farther upstream. It has also replanted and recultivated the forgotten Lambertskirch, a stone's throw from Schonfels and a monopole site. Kupp, its parcels Neuenberg and Unterstenberg, Saarfeilser (Schoden, Biebelhausen), Schonfels and Lambertskirch are classified VDP.GROSSE LAGE, and Ayler Scheidterberg is VDP.ERSTE LAGE. Within these hillsides the estate holds parcels of particularly old vines, up to 100 years old, which are vinified separately. All the vines stand on steep slopes covered with blue-grey slate, with roots reaching some 20 meters into crevices of the bedrock, at heights of up to 350 meters. As of 2018, about half the grapes for Fass 16, the estate's entry-level Saar blend, were grown on the estate in Ayl and the other half bought in from other parts of the Saar.

• VDP.GROSSE LAGE: Kupp, Kupp Neuenberg, Kupp Unterstenberg, Saarfeilser, Schonfels, Lambertskirch
• VDP.ERSTE LAGE: Ayler Scheidterberg
• Old-vine parcels up to 100 years old, vinified separately
• Blue-grey Devonian slate and gravel; vines at up to 350 meters

In the vineyard the estate uses no herbicides or insecticides and works with the established means of organic viticulture, but without copper. Organic fertilizers come from cattle and horse stables in the village, and heavy machines are kept out of the vineyards. Harvest starts in mid- to late October and can run into November, with selective handpicking and very gentle pressing. The wines ferment spontaneously, without cultured yeasts, using wild yeasts from both vineyard and cellar. The must from specific vineyards is always vinified in the same cask as the previous year, so the yeast flora that overwinters in the wood ferments the same site again; following the grandfather's custom, every wine carries this number, the house number in the old vaulted cellar. Long, slow fermentations and extensive lees contact, partly with bâtonnage, make bentonite unnecessary, and no fining agents of animal origin such as isinglass, gelatin or casein are used. Florian Lauer has called adding metatartaric acid, the usual way to remove tartrates in cool-climate wines, 'against his philosophy'.

• No herbicides, insecticides or copper; organic fertilizer from village stables
• Handpicked harvest from mid- to late October, sometimes into November
• Spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts in the same numbered cask each year
• Long lees contact; no bentonite and no animal-derived fining agents

Weingut Peter Lauer makes still wines, sparkling wines and crémants exclusively from Riesling. The range runs in three quality levels: regional wines from various slate slopes in the Saar Valley, village wines, and premier and grand cru wines from the best parcels in the top sites, made from old vines through late harvests and rigorous selection. A symbol on each label shows the degree of fermentation: trocken (dry, under 9 g/l residual sugar), trocken to feinherb (10 to 15 g/l), feinherb (off-dry, over 20 g/l), and no symbol for fruity or noble sweet wines from 45 g/l. The October 2026 range includes Fass 16 (dry), Fass 6 Senior (dry to off-dry), Fass 21 Ayl Premier Cru (dry), the parcel wines Fass 12 Unterstenberg, Fass 17 Neuenberg, Fass 15 Stirn and Fass 9 Kern, and three Grosses Gewächs (GG) wines: Fass 18 Kupp, Fass 13 Saarfeilser and Fass 11 Schonfels. The range also includes Fass 8 Kabinett, Fass 7 Spätlese, a Beerenauslese 'Sonne' and a Trockenbeerenauslese 'Kupp'. The sparkling range includes a Sekt Brut, a Prestige Crémant Brut Nature, a Réserve 1992 Brut and a Grande Réserve 1984 Brut Nature. As of 2018, the off-dry Barrel X was the entry-level Lauer wine for the American market.

• Dry: Fass 16, Fass 25, Fass 21 Ayl Premier Cru, Fass 18 Kupp GG, Fass 13 Saarfeilser GG, Fass 11 Schonfels GG
• Off-dry: Fass 3, Fass 4, Fass 9 Kern, Fass 15 Stirn, 'Alt Scheidt'
• Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese: Fass 8 Kabinett, Fass 7 Spätlese, Beerenauslese 'Sonne', Trockenbeerenauslese 'Kupp'
• Sparkling: Sekt Brut, Prestige Crémant Brut Nature, Réserve 1992 Brut, Grande Réserve 1984 Brut Nature

In an interview with the VDP, Florian Lauer gave the estate's aims as bringing the landscape into the bottle and reaching a high diversity of taste from a single grape variety. He defines its styles plainly: dry means harmonious and creamy, feinherb means piquant and fruit-driven, and fruity or noble sweet means elegance and finesse with a clear profile; Kabinett comes from healthy grapes without overripeness, Spätlese from overripeness without botrytis, and Auslese from overripeness with botrytis. Reviewing the 2018 Saar Riesling Brut for Decanter at 92 points, Anne Krebiehl MW called Lauer 'a somewhat revered name when it comes to Riesling Sekt', noting that its base wines come from the highest parts of the estate's steep slate vineyards and that it was disgorged after three years on the lees.

• Florian Lauer's style definitions: dry is harmonious and creamy, feinherb piquant and fruit-driven
• Kabinett without overripeness, Spätlese with overripeness but no botrytis, Auslese with botrytis

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://lauer-ayl.de/en/home/, https://lauer-ayl.de/en/history/, https://lauer-ayl.de/geschichte/, https://lauer-ayl.de/en/winery-about-us/, https://lauer-ayl.de/weingutsaar/, https://lauer-ayl.de/en/sites/, https://lauer-ayl.de/en/wines-collection/, https://lauer-ayl.de/en/shop/. Official body: VDP, https://www.vdp.de/de/die-winzer/mosel/peter-lauer. Secondary sources: wein.plus (14 April 2026), Jancis Robinson (Emily Percival, 23 February 2018) and Decanter (Anne Krebiehl MW, tasted 27 October 2022). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.