TN: 2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese

TN: 2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese

Ok. I know it’s too early to open this bottle, but I purchased 3 more bottles and have never tasted the legendary 2001 vintage of Prum. I just wasn’t strong enough to leave it in the Eurocave

As for the wine, it was every bit as sublime as advertised. I was struck by how lively the wine still is. There is plenty of life left in this wine and ample acidity for this wine to age for decades more. I knew from prior notes that I had read that the wine was built for the long haul, but it still surprised me. Although it was lively the wine was still extremely smooth and VERY well balanced. I believe I tend to use the word smooth when I am trying to indicate that it is well integrated and supremely drinkable. The wine definitely still has the effortless airiness and long finish of JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr that some how co-exist. The flavors were more apple, peach, small amount of citrus more so than the custard, honey flavors, and floral flavors on day one. I did not decant, just opened and left open for an hour so I will update tomorrow with how it evolves. To be honest I was amazed how young this wine still tastes. It’s definitely delicious and in a great spot for drinking, but hasn’t taken on a strong amount of the secondary mature notes yet. The cork was absolutely perfect and the wine must have been extremely well kept. If you have a bottle of this you can enjoy it now and it is excellent. After tasting I do think this will continue to get better and better for decades to come. (96 points with room to grow).

Thanks for reading.

Room to grow indeed. Magical vintage plus fantastic producer and vineyard!

Glad to see you cracking into some of these. If you’re going to have the patience to cellar some epic Prum for dozens of years you have to try some of the best. Bravo.

Well done!

I also heartily endorse your choice. Terrific TN, glad it was a sound bottle.

Hard to beat that wine.

Every 2001 german riesling I have drunk in the past year has been lively, young and delicious. This includes schmitt-wagner’s auslese, loosen urz wurz spatlese, selbach’s zelt sonnenuhr auslese and spatlese, prum’s badstube spatlese and christoffel’s one star wurz auslese,

Great note! Are the 01s finally ready??

Yes great note. I have only one bottle, so will keep it for a few more years.

Thanks to everyone for the kind responses. I had the 07 which was also likely not ready at all but I want to get a feel for how these evolve so I want to drink a few young. Andrew K talked me into buying multiples when I started collecting/cellaring and I’m glad he did. There is now substitute for actually tasting.

I was surprised how much younger or livelier the 01 tastes. I assume provenance played a role in that, but vintage may have as well. I definitely preferred the 01 by a far margin. That is not to say 07 was bad, just not 01.

As for ready to drink, I don’t think they are at their absolute best yet. However, I don’t have a lot of experience so I am not the go to source for that. I really enjoyed the bottle and have a little left for today (for research purposes ). If it continues to get better it will be a truly special bottle.

Depends on how you like them. For me the better Auslese bottlings are still early. Kabinett and Spatlese seem to be rounding into form.

I agree with David. Spat is definitely drinking beautifully. Aus are a few years away and GKA, just forget about them for another decade at least.

Had GKA from 375 last year and it needed about 2 days open to show.

I kept a little in the bottle for this evening to see if it changes much this evening. I assume it will likely show even better tonight. I will update when I drink it. I have three 01 GK 375ml and one 01 GK Auction. If you don’t mind me asking, did you see much of a difference in the regular Auslese and the GK? Obviously, the difference will be minimal at best, but I always wondered just how distinct any difference would be. I have yet to test them side by side and probably won’t for another decade or so.

Nice job, Gavin!. I had a similar reaction last weekend.

I love the '01s. This and the WS Spatlese are amazing wines that will be thrilling for years to come.

Only have the gka.

I did the Spat/Aus/GKA side by side a few months back and they are completely different wines. Difference is quite obvious to all who tasted.

David is spot on for the spätlese and auslese. I’m leaving the remaining auslese bottles for 10 years and may open my next spätlese in 5.

Interesting. I didn’t realize the difference would be so pronounced. That makes me really excited to try all three!

Brian I think you are right. I likely will not open another one of these for a long time. Or maybe I will just have to get some more

Also, I would love to taste an 01 Spatlese to compare, but it is simply unfindable so far for me. I put a WTB on the classifieds, but realize it’s a long shot. I was lucky enough to have a member here (Thanks so much Andrew K!) offer to let me buy one of his bottles. So I only have 1 bottle so I am saving it for a special occasion.

I noticed that you liked the spatlese very much from your signature I follow a lot of what you prefer. I picked up a few bottles of 2019 Falkenstein Kabinett and Alte Reben Kabinett from Daniel P because you liked them as well.