THE PRÜM DINNER - Chicago, IL (1/23/2015)
A group of riesling enthusiasts here in Chicago got together at the fantastic neighbourhood Asian place The Bento Box for a casual dinner. Many thanks to sennma for organizing, and the great staff at The Bento Box. Each bottle of Joh. Jos. Prüm is a special wine, but please read the notes in context with the wines they were flighted against.
A few light starters
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2010 Joh. Jos. Prüm Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#20-11, 8.5% abv. Lime-inflected nose, with a very acidic and mineral palate. Fresh and light, but still showing a fair bit of life. Super fresh and light, great to start off. I could see even this humble bottle aging for a good 5-10 years. (88 pts.) -
2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#19-08, 9% abv. Very floral, with a bit of the funk that I’ve always associated with the vineyard. Good freshness, but a smidgen light on the acidity. The funk doesn’t play too nicely with the freshness though, so there is something definitely a bit weird with this bottle. (88 pts.) -
2012 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#02-14. 2012s still have it going on, though I’d definitely agree they are on the cusp of all shutting down. The nose on this was extremely aromatic, with a strong floral component. The palate showed good balance between the slatey mineral quality, racy acidity, and ripe peaches. (90 pts.)
The “humble” Spätlese
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2012 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#03-14, 9% abv. This is definitely kith and kin of the Kabinett that I had previously. The difference here is that the fruit elements of the Kabinett are dialed up in comparison to everything else, though the acidity and minerality is still there. There’s a slight touch of effervescence on this bottle, but that’ll go away with time. (93 pts.) -
2010 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#22-11, 8.5% abv. If there was one wine that really didn’t show that well tonight, this would be it. Lovely spice notes on the nose, but it’s the acidity that really sets this one apart in the flight. Despite the fresh acidic lift, there wasn’t much else in this bottle right now. Let them sleep; they’ll be killer in a decade (or two!). (90 pts.) -
2006 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#11-07, 9% abv. This bottle definitely had the most advanced character out of the three in the flight. Lots of honey and spice, and maybe some ripe stone fruit as well. The palate definitely displays a lot of botrytis influence, but in the context of the wines so far, this was lacking a bit of acidity and freshness. (90 pts.)
“Bigger” Spätlese
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1989 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Auction - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#23-90, 8% abv. Still young, but this gives a very good glimpse as to what is in store for its younger siblings. There’s definitely more bottle funk, which I should have decanted out. A little oily in texture as well. The nose is, interestingly, quite smoky. The perception of sweetness on this bottle was the least – this came off the driest wine of the whole evening, perhaps. Nonetheless, there was a lot of depth in the palate, though it was more from the secondary characteristics (petrol and slate) than the fruit, which, for the part, has faded. (93 pts.) -
2003 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Auction - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#22-04, 7.5% abv. One of the big takeaways from this evening was that Prüm did exceedingly well in what one would consider “off” vintages. This had a bit of mustiness initially, which did blow off. A very ripe and rich bottle of Spätlese that could almost be called Auslese in another vintage. I did think this was lacking a bit of acidic zip, though the sheer intensity of the extract was fantastic. (90 pts.) -
2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#25-02, 7.5% abv. Super young wine. Really, it’d be hard to peg this for an 2001 based on the age, though you might be able to tell based on the concentration. This is just jam-packed with tons of fruit – I got a good dose of pineapple juice. Heaps of acid, of course. Awesome now, and likely will be for the foreseeable future. (93 pts.)
Siblings
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2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#13-06, 8% abv. I think this was the first wine of the evening where the famous Prüm sulphur reared its head, and only lightly at that. This was a particularly honeyed bottle of riesling, with a lot of floral tones. The palate was very sweet, but this bottling was much racier than the Goldkapsul that we had alongside. (93 pts.) -
2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#07-07, 7.5% abv. I’m not certain I have the right AP number on this bottle, though it could have been a late release. This is much, much sweeter than the regular bottling of the Auslese – for sure this is dessert wine in quality. I found this a bit softer as well. Super ripe and rich fruit. It’s really splitting hairs to have to choose between the regular bottling or this one. (93 pts.)
Siblings, part 2
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2006 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#11-07, 7.5% abv. This has an immense nose of botrytis spice. 2006 was already a botrytis year, and then add the GK selection on top of this, and you know how much botrytis we’re talking here. Honeyed, ripe, dense, and massive. But this comes off as a tad too sweet without the requisite acidity to make this into a legendary wine. (90 pts.) -
2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#12-08, 7.5% abv. This had a much heavier floral component than the 2006 that we drank alongside. It’s incredible how different these siblings are. Very restrained and not showing very much at the moment. Definitely in a shut down phase, let these reemerge on the other side with the added complexity of secondary characteristics and they’ll be fantastic. (90 pts.)
A classical interlude
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2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#14-05, 7.5% abv. Lots of restraint and acidity on this bottle, definitely showing its classical roots. This was alternately spicy and funky, but it’s definitely the acidity and gentle sweetness that holds everything together. Drinking very well now, I think that the 2004s in general are now entering their second drinking window. (90 pts.) -
2008 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#12-09, 7.5% abv. Super fresh and zesty, with lots of lovely fruit and floral character right now. The palate is fantastically airy and light, with almost no hint of botrytis at all. This is one of those green-laser-type rieslings with a generous amount of residual sugar. This was well-received all over the table, as it provided a much-needed break from the heavier botrytised wines that preceded it. (90 pts.)
Assorted Auslese to end the evening
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2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#28-02, 7.5% abv. Wow, what a stunner. This is such a pretty wine, with so much complexity all over the board – on the nose, on the palate, on the finish. A very strong floral component comes across on the nose, and that honeyed component finds its way on the palate, where it’s washed away by a laser-guided and precise stream of acidity. 2001 for the win again! (93 pts.) -
2003 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#09-04, 8% abv. Again, the rule about buying good producers in bad vintages holds true. Intense concentration and ripeness with a giant pile of ripe stone fruit being the biggest feature. I did find this a bit light on the acidic cut, but keep in mind that I’m saying this in the context of other Prüm wines. This is a real big Auslese, which will definitely develop much more interesting characteristics as it ages. Now, time to backfill a bunch of this… (90 pts.) -
1996 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#15-97, 8% abv. From half bottle. This is in an amazing spot right now, where the fresh fruit of its youth is still present but the secondary kerosene characteristics have just begun to emerge. Awesome balance of fruit, stone, acidity, sweetness. Everybody’s there and everyone’s playing nice with each other. No discernible botrytis influence, which I suppose sort of surprised me when I first tasted this bottle. My wine of the night. (95 pts.) -
2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#14-08, 7.5% abv. The Badstube does seem to lack a bit of the gravitas that the sundial and kingdom of heaven might possess. The nose on this was still very young and fresh, and the palate much lighter in character, featuring some tart fruit and a slightly chalky component. (90 pts.) -
1994 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#01-06, 7.5% abv. This was a very, very light bottle of riesling, with a very interesting smoke component on the nose. So very different from all the other bottles tonight, this was so ethereal, like it was floating above everything else, and it made all the other wines seem heaving brooding beasts in comparison. Very delicate fruit on the palate, with a moderate amount of acid. (93 pts.) -
2002 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#13-03, 7% abv. I can totally see this becoming like the 1994 that I had alongside. This is a gentle bottle of Auslese, with a good balance of everything. Not much power here, but it’s the gentleness and weightlessness that makes this a wine of interest. Give it the extra decade to develop more secondary tones. It’ll be a fun bottle then. (90 pts.)
Some takeaways: even in the “bad” years, producers like Prüm will find a way. It was especially surprising to see how different the GKAs were in 2006/2007, even though they are technically the “same wine.” Good producers will always work with the vintage and make something good, instead of forcing it into the same mold year after year.
Prüm needs age! The best bottles were the oldest ones. The 2001s are fantastic now, but still much too young.
I need to backfill 2003s.
