TN: 2005 Joh Jos Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese

We took a little mini vacation to a hotel this weekend because my 6 year old just loves hotels. We got a great deal on a suite and saw two other people the entire time. Still maintained masks, distancing, sanitizer etc. It was a lot of fun having the pool all to ourselves and feeling like we had a full hotel that was empty. Anyways, I took a bottle of 2005 JJ Prum Spatlese with me to have in the evening. The bottle was purchased from Spectrum Wine Auctions and was in great shape.

2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese (AP 6)

This was an excellent bottle. I really really enjoyed it. Not as stunning or inspiring as the 2001 Auslese, but still excellent.

The color was a medium light yellow and looked very fresh in terms of color. I’m still working on my olfactory notes and differentiating notes so I don’t have much to share in terms of smell. This had a decent backbone with acidity that helps balance the sweetness. This particular bottle was still above average in terms of sweetness for a spatelese. I prefer the sweetness so it really fit my personal preferences. The wine tasted of apricot, citrus, and also the classic honey/pear flavor on the finish. The wine had a bit of the floral aspect typically noted in Prum and Welhener Sonnenuhr, but that was a background note instead of a main attribute. The bottle felt very balanced and very “clean” or “fresh”. By that I mean the wine was powerful and intense while still maintaining a feather touch and lush mouthfeel on the finish. Per usual the finish is very long. The bottle was drinking very well. If you have some laying around you could definitely crack it open and enjoy. If you prefer the more secondary flavors, than the bottle I tasted showed that it has enough backbone to continue to evolve for the foreseeable future.

I have to note an obvious thing that is always valuable to repeat. That provenance makes a world of difference. I had a bottle of 05 JJ Prum Auslese recently that had a slightly raised cork, but otherwise looked good. It was darker in color and was very flat. No life or spritz and no backbone to hold up. It was flabby and tired and tasted heavily of the more lemon custard, honey notes. The delicate floral notes were almost non-existent. It was held in a Eurocave for the last 10 years. However, may have been an overfill, had some heat at some point, and/or any number of issues that can arise with a bottle in storage. It was still drinkable and not “heavily flawed”, but nothing compared to other bottles I have had. It’s amazing the difference the provenance makes and how great the well kept bottles can deliver.

For those that like scores I would score this bottle 94 points with the note that I do personally like sweetness in balance with acidity. I am not an “acid freak” as some would say. Therefore, my score may be slightly higher than most. I don’t want to scare anyone off because this wine has plenty of acidity, just probably slightly lacking for those who really love to feel the acidity be the lead.

This us another excellent effort by Joh Jos Prum.

The 2005s are likely to be very long lived wines. They do not meet the current fashion (Not having out of balance blistering acidity), so will probably be available through various channels. Provenance as you say is key.

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Very timely and useful note, Gavin. Just repatriated a couple of bottles from my offsite

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That’s awesome David. Let me know what you think when you pop one of the bottles. I found it to be a very enjoyable bottle. I would love to hear what others think of this vintage. I’m a wine glass half full kind of guy so I am pretty easy to please :slight_smile:

I agree David. I believe I am in in the minority of the acid preference scale. If a wine has enough acid to balance the sweetness for my preferences that is enough for me. I do enjoy a super electric acidic Riesling some times, but for the most part I am more on the lighter round side of the spectrum. My preferences work out well for me right now because there will be more available for me :slight_smile:

Prum made outstanding 2005s. In most vintages, German wines from the MSR have sufficient acidity if you give them some time - let the fruit calm down a bit. This is esp. true of wines from the Saar and Ruwer, but Prum’s 2005s have plenty of acidity now.

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I had one of these a few weeks back. The occasion wasn’t conducive to detailed note taking but I was really impressed by the bottle - it had a lovely combination of sweetness richness and lightness in balance. Definitely not the super-acidic side of Riesling but not at all overly heavy or sweet for a Spätlese. I’ll take more detailed notes on my next bottle.

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Your experience sounds very similar to mine. It was just an overall very pleasant and enjoyable bottle. While sweet, I definitely wouldn’t say it was “heavy” just like you found. I also agree it was not overly sweet at all. On the sweet side if you are just concentrating on sweetness, but it is so well balanced and light that it doesn’t come of as sweet overall. Just a really well balanced bottle of Riesling and a great effort. I would love to read your more detailed notes. Thanks for sharing!

Howard- I totally agree. I have found that I have really enjoyed the bottles of prum spatelese I have had at around 12-18 years old lately. Obviously this depends on vintage, provenance, etc, but I enjoyed the 2007 I had a month or so ago and the 2005 was even better. I totally agree that they have plenty of acidity. I have been trying to broaden my horizons a bit with other producers and more reds so haven’t had as much Prum lately; However Prum it is still my favorite wine by a fair margin.

How did this current fashion come to be?

It took place in David’s imagination. The only high acid vintages in the last 20 years have been 2008 and 2010 and the wines from those vintages can be outstanding.

Despite Howard’s belief that he can read my mind, I was not necessarily referring to the vintages themselves, but the stated preferences from people (many on this site) for “acid forward”, “searing” or otherwise obviously acidic wines.

How that came to be I have no idea. Perhaps it’s just a reaction to the general trend for warmer and riper vintages, and thus richer wines. Some of the truly amazing sites (e.g. Erdener Pralat) in Germany now make incredibly ripe wines. Saar wines are on the upswing in popularity, quite possibly due to the often cooler growing conditions, and thus more classically styled wines. Falkenstein has been a beneficiary of this to name one producer.

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It is true that many including me love acid forward wines. All you have to do is look at the Falkenstein craze to see that many others do to. Germany is known for acid and I do think it is an integral part of what they do best especially when the interplay of sugar and acid creates tension.

Here is an interesting thought as someone who loves these wines and drinks them daily I did notice my palate changing overtime where I liked lower acid wines much less and even had a hard time with some wines that I know are great wines. So I wonder if this is part of it for others as well as the winemakers. I always thought this type of palate change must of had something to do with the higher and higher ABV trend in the US in the late 90s through the mid 2000s.

The great thing about Germany is that there is enormous diversity of styles so you can find whatever style you like.

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Makes a lot of sense Robert. I happen to enjoy all styles. Heck, some of the 1996s were downright tooth rattling when they were first released. I loved them then. I’m just not so wedded to one particular style, and overall I prefer a middle/balanced wine to anything on either extreme. I have bought/continue to buy Saar wines (just got a bunch of 2019 Falkenstein), but will not turn down a lower acid wine if the wine is balanced.

That’s a great point Robert. I didn’t think of that as a possibility.

I agree David. I like acidic wines and riper wines and can enjoy both. I am a middle of the road kind of guy right now. I prefer balance and probably prefer a slightly riper wine than most. As Robert said, one of the many positives to German wines is that the wines are so diverse you can find what fits your palate.

I too jumped on the Falkenstein train because many of the voices on here whom I respect (many on this thread included) said they were well worth the purchase. I purchased a case of mixed bottles and look foreword to giving them a try. I also bough the Offer from source material of a couple of bottles the Emrich-Schönleber GG’s. I will have to wait a bit for those, but I do look forward to trying them as well. I am trying to dip my toes into more GG’s and more acidic wines because I have really enjoyed the very few GG’s and more acidic reislings I have had as well.

I do quite a bit like Falkenstein.

I am glad David pointed out the stylistic change because
I do think there is some truth to it but I hadn’t consciously noted it.

When I think of the Falkensteins of today and compare to the 1983 JJPrums I cut my teeth in in the late 90’s they are much different.

Of course there are more differences between the two sets of wines aside from the year produced.