Exactly. Klaus Peter Keller always seems to think the current vintage is the best he’s ever made. He, and several dozen exceptionally vociferous acolytes, that is.
Other good ones include Clemens Busch, Willi Schaefer, Fritz Haag, and that’s not at all a complete list.
Do the Prums normally need that much cellaring time across the board? Even for the Kabinetts? Would they just be a waste to drink young?
Years ago they seemed very sulphury (sponti-y?) young but aged gloriously. Lately they’ve been much more enjoyable on release but like any other good wine shut down after a period of time and are not that enjoyable until they emerge on the other side.
So like so many other wines my philosophy is to drink them young or drink them old but not in between. And the Kabinetts also age beautifully.
I don’t think it’s sulfur. But that question is academic and will probably be argued for as long as people are talking about wine! No doubt that Prum is typically great with the right amount of age.
I agree that if you aren’t drinking your Riesling on release, you should wait (typically about 7 years from the vintage date) to avoid the shut-down phase that hits a lot of the wines.
If it’s even nearly as good as 2012 I’ll be very happy. I’ve seen many vintages of a lifetime come and go over the years.
Nope, you can drink Prum young or aged. When they’re young, the acidity, slate/minerality, and sweetness bounce around on your palate and make it fun to drink. You should get a 4 or 5 year window from release. For the next 5 to 10 years (depending on classification - the more sugar, the more time they should be cellared in general) they shut down a little but not completely so are still okay to drink. After 10 to 15 years (again, depending on classification) they start to show secondary flavors and the sugar and acid seem to smooth each other out for lack of a better description. 2001 G-H Auslese is exceptional right now as mentioned earlier in the thread. 1990 and 1983 are amazing wines. There are 2 more bottles of '83 W-S Auslese and 5 more bottles of '01 G-H Auslese in our Riesling Danby and we’re saving them for special occasions.
2015 is the year i got married, and my wife is nuts for german riesling. so i’ll end up buying quite a lot.
That’s a major green light if I ever did see one!
I have some Prüm '06 Graacher Auslese Goldkapsel sleeping downstairs. Any predictions on when that might mature?
The '96s are starting to drink well, but mature? Fully? Hah!
Well OK, how about not shut down?
Getting wine for the year you got married is always great. You get to buy the wine and she thinks you are being romantic. Win-win. ![[welldone.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/fc9709a841aa9379fd892a9cf0b535b05f473b86.gif "[welldone.gif]"){kind=small}
Are you two talking about the same vintage.
The regular Auslese is okay now but needs several more years of improvement. '06 and '03 were good (underrated) years for Auslese from Prum. You should hold them for at least 5 more years, probably more. We’ve been tracking the evolution of our lone case and it’s a little closed now.
I meant the '06 Prüm Goldkapsel (see a few posts upstream)
You all know my opinion about this vintage. It´s an exceptional vintage and whether this will be a 1971 or 2001 or 1975 or whatever vintage time will tell.
BTW, as the author is looking for trocken Riesling. I want to recommend a trocken Riesling which will hit your shelves in the coming days or already has: 2015 Wagner-Stempel “vom Porphyr”
The winemaker produced maybe the best vintage of his career and this Riesling will show you how great this vintage is. A Riesling trocken for 15 Euro on Dry Grand Cru/Grosses Gewächs level. Here is the wine-dealer:
http://www.rudiwiest.com/estates/wagner-stempelv/
Here the vintage report about 2015 by the winemaker Daniel Wagner in english:
http://www.wagner-stempel.de/en/content/news
Cheers,
Martin
And as you are all talking about JJ Prüm, here is a 2015 Wehlener Sonnenuhr from Max Ferd. Richter you can buy right now for a song. In contrast you have to wait a few months before you see 2015 JJ Prüm.
Many people are focusing on the well known names. But truth is that dozens of talented winemakers are producing superb wines in Germany these days. But ok - this is true for almost any wine growing country. If you are interested in saving money I suggest to be open minded and tasting as much wines of a certain area as possible. It won´t take long to find positive surprises.
But of course you have to
a) have access to them
b) have a chance to taste so you know whether you like a given producer’s style. Or particular bottling of a given producer. For example I was underwhelmed by Keller until I tried a Morstein GG which amazed me. I’ve given up on trusting reviewers for unfamiliar Germans vis a vis my palate. Too many misses. I’m hoping some local stores might have tastings once they start arriving, if not I’ll probably be sticking with with producers I know I love and paying attention to VFTC and MFWR for what to buy within those producers.