On Sunday, Tobias, who shot the photos for our catalogs, and I visited Weingut Peter Lauer in Ayl, where we met with Florian Lauer. I was able to re-taste the 2008s, but this time after bottling. Back in April, I had tasted on two separate occasions Fuder and tank samples.

One of my favorites is the 2008 Ayler Kupp Riesling “Senior” Faß 6, a filigreed dry-tasting Saar Riesling from diverse plots with a good portion of 80- to 90-year-old vines, partly ungrafted, in the most westerly sector of the “original” Ayler Kupp hillside (more later about the Kupp). This was the style of Saar Riesling that his grandfather enjoyed to drink, hence the name “Senior.” The 2008 vintage of this bottling has 13.1 grams per liter residual sugar and 8.0 grams per liter acidity. Although technically halbtrocken (or, feinherb), it comes across dry on the palate because of the acidity. In fact, Florian designates this wine as “trocken” rather than feinherb.

Kupp is a short form of Kuppe, which in German means hilltop. The “original” Kupp is the steep vineyard north of the village. Similar to Scharzhofberg and other prime Saar vineyards in villages such as Ockfen, Wawern or Oberemmel, the vines grow primarily on south- to southwest-facing slate slopes in side valleys.

As with so many other vineyards on the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, the Ayler Kupp had former specific site names (listed below from east to west):

• Kupp. The original rounded end of the hill, above the village of Biebelhausen. (Formerly, the east-facing hillside was called Biebelhausener Berg, later Biebelhausener Kupp, which was next to the south-facing Ayler Kupp.)
• Stirn. At the top of the knoll, west of Kupp, below the tree-line cover; south facing.
• Untersten Berg. At the foot of the hill, below Stirn; south facing.
• Neuberg (or Neuenberg). The large middle section of the hillside; south-southwest facing.
• Herrenberg. A monopole site of the Bischöfliche Weingüter within Neuberg.
• Kern. A cross-section of the slope between Neuberg and Neuanlage; southwest facing. (The former owner, named Kern, was an industrialist from Saarlouis.)
• Neuanlage. The tail end of the slope; southwest facing. (Cleared of trees and planted with vines ca. 1900.)

The Prussian tax map of 1832, highlights in dark red the middle section known as Neuberg, which for the purposes of taxation was the essential area, since the Catholic Church in Trier and the rich Graff family of Ayl had their holdings here.

This map doesn’t show today’s entire hillside, however. For example, the pink area, west of the Kern section, was removed of trees and planted at the turn of the century and was unofficially called “Neuanlage” (or, “new planting”) to differentiate it from Neuberg. The old vines from “Senior” come from many different parcels within Neuanlage. Both sites, Kern and Neuanlage, have a more southwesterly exposure and benefit from the late afternoon sun combined by the cooling winds, especially after sunset, that rush up this area of the slope owing to the humid, marshy fields below.

“Neuberg” means “new hill.” Even though this section is listed on the old maps, dating back to the nineteenth century, it was at one point in time indeed “new” and also cleared of woods and planted with vines as was Neuanlage later on. The “Kupp” was the oldest site. (On the Saar, this vineyard name is commonplace, such as the unappreciated Saarburger Kupp in addition to Wiltinger Kupp and Braune Kupp.)

Up until the Golden Twenties, the hillside was simply divided into Neuberg (or, later named Neuenberg) and Kupp. (See below old postcard sent on June 13, 1916 below.)

From 1933 to 1973, Ayler Neuenberg and Neuanlage (the wooded area of the slope behind Neuenberg) were merged with Ayler Kupp.

Since 1973 the official Ayler Kupp vineyard incorporates now a number of spread-out sites beyond this particular hillside. These include the following vineyards: Ayler Scheidterberg, Rauberg, and Schonfels as well as Biebelhausener Sonnenberg and Saarfeils.