The Singular Wines of Andreas Laible: One Miraculous 2013 Under $35 - One of Germany's Top Winemakers

If there is one winery in my portfolio that literally gives me the chills is Laible. Theseare, for me one of

the top 3-5 Dry Riesling estates in Germany. The wines are singular: nothing tastes quite like them and each of their bottlings is a unique expression of the vineyard on which the grapes were grown.  Dry is the specialty in their little slice of heaven, otherwise known as Durbach which is just as steep as the Mosel. Andreas and Petra Laible's house is plop right in the middle of their vineyards. These are just magic in a glass. Today I am honored to offer their two top bottlings from the great, yes great, 2013 vintage.

First up is the 2013 Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Riesling "Achat" for as little as $33.99 on the 4-pack which is it's usual stunning self in 2013. 2013 has higher acidity than 2012 but it is all there and when I mean there I mean all there. I cannot think of dry Riesling getting anymore perfect than this. The laser-like precision, purity, allied with concentration, amazing floral tones and waves of fruit is unmatched for me in this vintage. The wine just explodes on the palate and the structure is very obvious upon first sip. It is a wine of finesse as well. To have this much material with this much finesse is almost a crime. I only got one bottle of 2012 and drank that already, hopefully I'll do better in 2013. The Achat is a masterpiece. But just like Van Gogh and Titian, true artists are capable of creating more than one masterpiece.  This wine would normally be $50 through 3 tiers.

Below is from previous offers.

There are only a limited number of truly distinctive wineries using expert wine making technique in unique terroir to produce wines that are singular expressions of that terroir.  When I opened Fass Selections, one of the main reasons I did it was to source and sell wines like this that I couldn't previously find in the United States.

The wines of Andreas Laible are wines that have the singularity that I love.  They are also about as exclusive as they get in Germany.  It's always nearly impossible to get your hands on the limited and allocated quantities of Laible in the States.  The top wines are limited production and sell out fast.  Most of the top level 2012's Rieslings are already allocated in Germany.

The great German producers (Lauer, JJ. Prum, Wittman, Battenfeld-Spanier, Immich-Battiereberg) are also dry/off-dry/sweet wines from Germany with distinction, in that when you are drinking them there is nothing else comparable. Distinct character, for me, is one of the hallmarks of the world's greatest wines. I would put the dry Rieslings of Andre Laible in that class.

The Achat is a bit more flamboyant than the SL and incredibly floral. Also there is a serenity to this wine a bit more than the SL. More concentrated but still on the mineral side and has that same delicate finesse-driven style found in the SL. Intense minerality. That is the trademark here. The Achat is about as pure a dry Riesling as you will find in Germany in this category of Spatlese Trocken or Ortsweine as they call it in Germany. Village wine as I call it, but this is more Roulot Lieu-Dit than just a random village wine. This is just special wine.

Remember these need massive decants and take hours to develop fully.  The Achat needs at least a 3-4 hour decant while the SL is a bit more accessible but still needs around 2 hours in a decanter. Needless to say these age wonderfully. The wines have a serious mineral/acid spine.

These will arrive in late fall and ship in fall/winter.

2013 Andreas Laible Durbacher Plauerlain Riesling "Achat" - $36.99 ($135.96 4-pack)