The Platonic Ideal of Fassiness: Mineral ... Elegant ... Terroirist ... Balaned. Laible.

 2020 Andreas Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Klingelberger 1782 Riesling Spatlese Trocken
- Mindblowing
- The Most Balanced, Refined, Textured, Elegant and Pure Klingelberger so Far
- Nose: Top 1% Aromas
- Flower Shop Levels of Aromatics
- Gorgeous Mosel-like Fruit
- Green Apples. Pear. Apricot.
- Fresh Field Level 10
- Rock Quarry
- Elite Winemaking
- Palate: Sensational
- Vivid and So Detailed
- This is god Level Balance
- Vibrant, Deep and Packed with Fruits

2020 Andreas Laible Scheurebe Trocken
- Sick and Dry
- Classic Aromas of Sage and Black Currents
- Grapefruit and Lovely Floral Top Notes
- Gobs of Forceful Minerality
- Palate: a Force of Nature
- Dry, Juicy and Explosive 

 - One of the More Mineral Scheurebes I've Ever Had

Most of you know the story of Andreas Laible.

He was one of the estates that convinced me to start Fass Selections.  Laible makes wines of such purity and elegance that I've always loved them.  But when I was in retail, I couldn't get them because they were too expensive via the 3 tier system for the importers to import.  So I started my own company and here we are. Sadly we missed their 2019s because of the pandemic but we got the 2020s and are selling them early so we don't miss out! They are clones of the 2016s which is a favorite vintage of mine at Laible. They are stunning wines with incredible elegance and freshness in 2020. Hard to resist young but we all know what treats wait for people who wait on Laible to age. 

The wines have a devoted following on the list.  They are on the extreme right on the bell curve in terms of minerality and elegance.  Definitely more like Puligny than say Meursault.  If you like that elegant style of wine, these are some of the best values in the world.  In 2020, you get that prototypical elegance maybe even heightened a bit and insane freshness. 

The Wine

Today, we are selling perhaps Andreas' best wine.  It is the 2020 Andreas Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Klingelberger 1782 Riesling Spatlese Trocken for $32.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. If I'm giving out a core 3-pack of our Dry Riesling to a critic, this is going to be in it. This is the eighth vintage we have worked with and each one is just amazing. Not a bad one in the bunch.

 - The compactness of the 2012...

 - the acidity and depth the 2013,

 - the lean, mineral and angular yet refined 2014,

 - the explosive and powerful 2015,

 - the nervy, dense, tensile and ultra refined 2016

 - baroque, textured, dense, dynamically fresh and long 2017

 - the epic density and explosiveness of the 2018

I've tasted a lot of young Klingelberger by Laible before but nothing prepared me for the 2020 which I opened last week. It was mindblowing. It was maybe the greatest young Laible wine I've had of all the wines. It took my breath away.  It is the most balanced, refined, textured, elegant and pure Klingelberger so far. It is also absurdly fresh and deep and exhibits grace and power in a refined and compact package yet has this stunning texture that seems to show in the best 20's down south. This is a wow wine. Blew my mind.

What a nose. sweeping and dramatic with top 1% aromas. So floral. Flower shop levels. Little shop of
insane dry Riesling. Gorgeous Mosel-like fruit. Smells ripe and sweet but also bone dry. Green apples. Pear. Apricot. So vivid and detailed. Just wonderful. Lime blossom, sweet lime. Endless aromas. Staggering young Klingelberger aromas. It screams "I'm here" out of the gates. As it aerated its aromas became deeper and revealed themselves more. Wet stones, lanolin, and lovely sponti aromas and hints of fruit. I find with Laible, the fruit aromas need some years to come out, but in 2020 it is there earlier than usual and it's so good. Then after air there is papaya/mango and pear with all the flowers and minerals. Lime blossom, Meyer lemon as well. This is elite winemaking. Time is your friend with this bottling as it will only get better.

The palate is sensational.  Palate is epic like a Norwegian Viking documentary epic. Dense, structured and more deep. Man is this deep with just stunning purity and freshness. So vivid and so detailed. This is god level balance. So long. Never ends. The purity of this wine is just incredible. Amazing finesse and elegance and screamingly mineral and very very complex on the finish. This is a staggering young Klingelberger. Vibrant, deep and packed with fruits and has just amazing freshness from the minerality. But there is also an intense sense of mineral urgency. It slathers you with minerals. It is very, very mineral and so mineral it's almost savory if that makes any sense. Some tropical fruit but more apple and pear at this stage perfectly interspersed with deep clean minerality. This is so well fruited and compact yet so dynamic and fresh it creates quite an impression on the palate. The acidity is quite impressive and echoes on the very long finish which has a distinct saline impression. It is already showing terrific complexity but what is most compelling and separates this from previous Klingelberger is the seamless chewy structure. It's just unbelievable. This is as epic as Riesling can get for $33. 

On Day 2 it was even better! 

Classic Kling! What a nose. Green herbs, fresh apricot, huge minerals, hint of vulcanized rubber, lime blossom, citrus, dried earth, minerals. Stunning. Palate is so dense, so structured, so palate staining and just ethereal. Long finish, superb balance And jaw dropping purity. Amazing length and inner mouth florals with chock full of minerality. This is easily a 20 year wine. Sick acids and freshness. So complete, serene yet complex.

Next up is a wine I've been trying to get my hands on for years (last vintage we sold was 16!) as it sells out in Germany almost instantly but I got a small allocation today and it is thrilling thrilling wine. I have a soft spot for Scheurebe and I'd sell more if it was made like this. I believe that unless you're Paul Weltner or KP Keller who make killer feinherb Scheurebe, that Scheurebe in its most glorious and refined form is Trocken. There is no doubt in my mind. It seems to tame the rococo craziness and takes on a more mineral terroir driven character. You got some crazy there as this is Scheurebe, which inherently is an insane proposition as it is. It is also called Sämling 88 in Austria which sounds like a character on Stranger things. Seedling 88 is it's English  translation which does not sound less scary. It's a cross between Riesling and an unknown wild vine. They wanted to make a superior version of Sylvaner. Many people thought Silvaner was the other parent but through DNA testing that was ruled out. So Scheurebe is Riesling and who the hell knows what. Maybe that is why wine geeks love it. It has an arcane mystery to it. 

The 2020 Laible Scheurebe Trocken for $27.99 on a 4-Pack is a wine I am lucky to have. It's sick and dry. Those are the big standout words in my notes. Classic aromas of sage and black currents, with some grapefruit and lovely floral top notes. The Laible forceful minerality is there in gobs. Super complex and aromatic nose. Sick value here for $28. 

The palate is just a force of nature. Super dry and laser like with all sorts of minerals. This is my ideal Scheurebe. Thick with minerals yet so precise. Dry, juicy and explosive. Long finish with grapefruit pith and flowers and minerals. Such a pretty wine. Take away the sugar and comical ripeness that sometimes Scheurebe can be and you can have gorgeous wines like this.  This is one of the more mineral Scheurebes I've ever had. This will age 10 years easy. Truly exciting wine. Limited.

2020 Andreas Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Klingelberger 1782 Riesling Spatlese Trocken - $34.99 ($131.96 4-Pack) 

2020 Andreas Laible Scheurebe Trocken - $29.99 ($111.96 4-Pack)