One of the Top Grauburgunder / Pinot Gris on Planet Earth - Laible's Iconic Grosses Gewachs

 2020 Laible Grauburgunder Am Buhl Grosses Gewachs 
 - Stinging Minerality
 - One of the Best Pinot Gris I've Ever Had (Along with Ziereisen)
 - An Exercise in Grace and Balance
 - His Grosses Gewachs Are Highly Allocated - Laible Lovers Should Not Miss This Opportunity
 - Nose: Lemony, Stone Fruits, Apricot
 - Stony, Spent Intensity, Spice, Floral 
 - Such Complexity
 - Palate: Zen-Like
 - Concentrated, Crazy Stone Fruits. 
 - Long, Sappy and Really Mineral
 - Huge, Dense, Grand Cru Energy

2020 Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Weissburgunder Kabinett Trocken
- A tsunami of greatness
- Stunning nose
- Green Apple, Pear, Sugar Snap Peas
- Spice, Spring Herbs, Fresh Air, Minerals
- Pine Resin, Salty Extract A Hint of Bitter Citrus
- Palate: Outstanding Acid and Terrific Length
- Nice Opulence, Concentration and Sap

- Terrific Freshness and Purity

I love Germany and it's my favorite wine country. I've never had a country where I've tasted so many top examples of grapes that are in general mediocre elsewhere. Besides the freaky indigenous/cross/hybrid grapes like Silvaner/Scheurebe and oddballs like Domina and Elbling Germany also makes by far the best Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc in the world. But like all other niche things you gotta know where to look. That's why I'm so happy to have Laible as they do Grau and Weiss like no one else. Sometimes I don't want to open a Riesling or a White Burgundy which are by far the two whites I drink the most. That's where Weissburgunder and Grauburgunder come in. Both are very different and both scratch and itch that Riesling and Chardonnay can't. They lean more towards Chardonnay than Riesling in profile but because it's Germany they are still Rieslingesque. I think in the 1971 German Wine Law it was decreed that all German white wines had to have some Riesling DNA in them and they all do. I'm kidding of course but the German wine geeks know what I'm getting at. These wines have incredible, freshness, depth and textures plus unreal aromas and minerality. Not as skeletal as Riesling. More body, but this is Laible we are talking about so the wines have acid up the wazoo. These are so food friendly. These go with more varieties of food than Riesling in my opinion as well and both of these are so so ageable. The Weiss 5-8 years and the Grau 10-15 years. Not a better change of pace white wines than these. From an elite vineyard, the Durbacher Plauerlain and then Am Buhl, which is a special site within the Plauerlain. 

The 2020 Vintage

2020 is another BRILLIANT vintage with VERY SMALL quantities. The acidity can be higher than 2020 across the board and the wines are ELECTRIC but more than that they have unreal elegance and finesse. 

The Wines

Up first have one of the more unicorny wines I've ever sold. Laible GG's are amongst the most elusive in all of Germany. Even with my excellent relationship with the winery I've only been able to get one GG. They also gave me a bottle once of the 2008 Riesling GG. They keep the GGs tightly allocated and if you get some you are considered lucky. It's been 8+ years now that the Laibles and Fass Selections have worked together. This year we have been blessed with a GG. We drank it an earlier vintage over dinner some years back and it was not even part of the tasting beforehand. Andreas Laible arrived a bit after Petra and I, and he had this bottle in tow and man is it one of the most exciting complex, deep, ethereal whites I'll sell all year. 

The Wines

It's the 2020 Laible Grauburgunder Am Buhl Grosses Gewachs for $42.99 a bottle on 4-pack. The only one high end Grauburgunder I've sold at Fass Selections is the spectacular Jaspis version from Hanspeter Ziereisen but these two wines could not be more different. This is the ying to the yang of the Ziereisen. They are both stunning examples and some of the top Pinot Gris' in the world. Both equally brilliant but both incredibly different but both at the top of their class. Top tier German Grauburgunder is one of my favorite whites as there is so much, a) overoaked or innocuous Grau in Germany, b) anonymous watery Pinot Grigio from Italy and c) rich, treacly, maudlin Pinot Gris from Alsace. 

This is a a wine of incredible depth, intense stoney minerality and enormous complexity and grip. A wine of such stature and structure Andreas says it will age longer than the 15, which I have not even tasted. 

The nose jumps out with a lemony, stony, spent intensity. Stone fruits, apricot, spice and such complexity. Really expressive for a young Am Buhl. Nuanced. Floral. Wow. I'm very impressed. Pungent florals after some air. There is a grandiosity to the aromas. Stinging minerality. Almost too much but you can't get enough. Just a profound nose. Nose also has the typical youthful wood of this cuvee and it always needs time but wow there are stone fruits, wet stones, lemon, lime. So so gorgeous. Super floral with a top note of sugar snap peas.

The palate is an exercise in grace and balance. It has so many moving parts but it retains an almost zen-like balance. Incredible, complex and concentrated stone fruits like you won't believe. So juicy, intense and deep. A sensory overload yet so zen like in its balance. It truly is explosive. I use that word a lot but his wine detonates on the finish and leaves your palate awash in minerals and also wanting it to be aged. The potential for perfection with 5-8 years of age is very real with this wine after mega air the palate is stunning. Wow, what acidity and freshness and concentrated, crazy stone fruits. Palate is superb. Young but concentrated and gorgeously integrated wood. Wonderfully framing. Stone fruits galore like apricot and peach but with a feral/gamey quality that is super clean and engaging. This needs 5 years but is quite an accomplishment. Amazingly pure, juicy and balanced. Terrific grip and phenolics give almost a tannic like impression on the finish. Long. Compelling complexity. A brilliant wine! Awesome freshness and acidity. So fine. So refined. This is the counterpoint to the Ziereisen Grauburgunder Jaspis Alte Reben. Long, sappy and mineral. Really mineral. Huge, dense, grand Cru energy all the way. So much dry extract. Incredible amount of material here. More akin to Grand Cru Chablis than anything I've ever had from Germany. Stunningly long and expressive. Maybe 5 years. Maybe 8 years. But one day this will win a tasting of much more expensive wines. 

Up next I have one of the super star value wines of the entire portfolio, the 2020 Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Weissburgunder Kabinett Trocken for as little as $23.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. This is one of those wines that one grabs when trying to prove how great a winery is. It's a less expensive wine, but in hands of Laible it becomes something so much more. That is the beauty of working with an estate like Laible. It carries everyone in its path.  A tsunami of greatness.  

Stunning nose of green apple, pear, spice, spring herbs, fresh air, mineral, green beans, so good. Soupy but with cleanliness and clarity. With air comes sugar snap peas, clean minerals, pine resin, salty extract and some bitter citrus. 

The palate has terrific purity and concentration with a very delicate structure. Awesome texture. So sappy, pretty and delicate. Wonderful wine with outstanding acid and terrific length.  Very pure and clean even later that night as I took the bottle in the car. Awesome pillowy texture, exceptional balance, nice opulence, concentration and sap. And by far the most mineral and refined version ever. After air, palate is elegant and round but with terrific freshness and purity. Very deep and ripe. Juicy. Really juicy. Awesome freshness and structure. This is a dense little Weissburgunder. Balanced, pure and super clean. Long. 

2020 Laible Grauburgunder Am Buhl Grosses Gewachs - $44.99
($171.96 4-Pack)

2020 Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Weissburgunder Kabinett Trocken - $25.99 ($95.96 4-Pack)