With one swirl, sniff, and taste and I’m transported back to the Mosel and our visit to the JJ Prum estate a couple years ago. A layer of petrol and smoke provides a delicate cover for vibrant citrus notes, including tangerine peel and mandarin orange, Kaffir lime leaves, peach tea, green apple, and slate. Concentrated apricot and peach notes on the palate yet there is a light and elegant mouthfeel, with well-incorporated sweetness and acidity, and a finish that lingers for minutes.
This wine feels like it’s only starting its evolution along a long and bright aging curve. Can’t wait to see how this continues to mature. (96 pts.)
I wasn’t collecting wine when these were released, but I do remember when they were easily available in the secondary market for around $50. Really wishing I had tracked down at least a couple, but alas, never pulled the trigger.
Wow. Just looked. That’s wild. I’ve purchased this wine for ~$60-70/btl in the last year. Just yesterday Benchmark offered 10 bottles of '01 JJ Prum G-H Auslese for $59/btl (unfortunately I saw the email too late).
All of that said, it’s hard to say that $170/btl is unreasonable in the context of the broader wine world. Where else can you get a 20-year-old wine from a legendary producer in an epic vintage that’s virtually guaranteed to be good?
Great TN, Brian. Wish I had some of this wine. I do have one bottle of the '01 Badstube Spatlese left…I think I drank my others too early.
Any time someone complains about Prum (or other top quality German) pricing, look at it this way: What do people pay for absolute top-quality Burgundy, Bordeaux, Sauternes, or Cote-Rotie? German Riesling seems cheap. And compared to what people pay for CA Cabs that I couldn’t even finish a glass of… Prum is like the DRC or Latour of the Mosel. It’s still a bargain.
The same auction has a lot composed of 01 WS Auslese sitting at a much lower per bottle cost with no bids. Is there something special about the spatlese in this vintage? Or is this just some weird auction thing?