2023 Peter Lauer 'Senior No. 06' Riesling, Saar, Germany   

This for me is one of the *great* GREAT white wine deals in the world – within the German pantheon it is right there with Keller’s “von der Fels” and Emrich-Schönleber’s “Mineral” as truly Grand Cru wines that sell for 50% of what they probably should. For 2023, the “Senior” is a dry wine (legally Trocken with only ten grams RS), yet the extreme density of the wine and concentration give it a certain polish. Perhaps more than most wines in Lauer’s stable, the 2023 “Senior” is a wine that sits perfectly poised between auster and mineral, and generous and heady, perfumes of stone fruit and citrus. Absolutely spectacular.