J.J. Prum: A study in 2001 Spatlesen

WINE TALK
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I confess I didn’t buy and haven’t gone back to retry any. Too many other good options.

22

To make explicit what has been implied, 2001 is such a great vintage because so many wines combined optimal ripeness with optimal acidity (optimally balanced). The only other vintage like that in my wine drinking lifetime was 1990, though as has been said 2012 may be another.

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Don’t know if you’ll accept the views of a relative novice… We’re certainly Prüm drinkers in this house, so much so that we buy it by the case. Here are my impressions of vintages subsequent to 2001.

2002: We like both the G-H and W-S, in spatlese and auslese. The W-S auslese is a very well balanced wine. The G-H spatlese is one of our favorites though, and as with most G-H’s it has more pop than W-S from the same year. Got about 7 bottles left from this year.

2003: Auslese is the winner here, particularly G-H. Not impressed with much else from this year. Got 19 bottles of G-H and W-S auslese left and they’re a pleasure to drink. One couple we often dine with call it their nectar of the Gods.

2004: The W-S spatlese has a seemingly higher acidity than the previous two years, similar to 2011’s and 2013’s. It’s a year I would pass on and we don’t plan on backfilling any from this vintage unless a crazy price came around. There’s only 3 bottles left and we’ll bring them to various functions to make space for new purchases.

2005: It’s all still too tight and will need quite a while to come together IMO, but shows great promise as far as balance. My problem is everyone chases this year because it’s so highly touted, driving price up and making it hard to source. Just 1 bottle in the fridge, and I don’t bother searching out more.

2006: Another year to look at the auslese from G-H or W-S, and again we prefer the G-H because it’s just more fun to drink. Got 14 bottles of G-H auslese - it’s still fairly young but drinking very well now.

2007: Say what you want about '01, '05, and '09 - and they’re all excellent vintages - but we went long here on G-H spatlese. It’s still young and primary now with the acid, residual sugar, and fruit bouncing around. I’m betting it’s gonna be incredible in 10 years. There’s more than 2 cases stashed away, yet we still do grab a bottle now & again because it’s so damn good. We still want another case or two.

Haven’t bothered with any serious trials on more modern vintages because it doesn’t seem worth the while to evaluate them yet. We have tried some 2010’s and 2012’s and liked them, particularly a Gold Kapsel auslese from 2012. Our local Canal’s has 375ml bottles for a half decent price and my wife insists on grabbing one here & there when we’re passing by. Might consider getting a case of that soon.

Charles: there’s 3 more bottles of 1983 Wehlener Sonnenuhr auslese in my Riesling fridge. It’s my absolute favorite year for Prüm and Riesling in general, although I have not tried 1971 and I hear that’s the cat’s meow. I’d put an '83 up against a '90 any day. Technically, the '90 might be a better balanced wine, but the '83 is soooooo tasty it’s impossible to not love it.

[cheers.gif]

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Nice summary, thanks. I find that I usually like the lower Kabinett level better though.

I will look for some '12s of various German producers, as I’m running low in general.

25

The 2012 WS Spat is a stunner, the UK importer thinks it will trump the 01, I won’t argue…

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You should try the Prüm '07 and '12 Kabinett then. Both were fairly ripe years, but with very good acidity - moreso the '12 than the '07. We’ve had the '12 Prum Kabinett (I forget which - either the G-H or W-S since we don’t bother with their other vineyards) and it was VERY good. IIRC, it had a tartness to it that reminded me of green apple with a hint of lemon & grapefruit maybe.

As far as other producers in 2012, JJ Christoffel’s Erdener Treppchen spatlese and kabinett are really REALLY good, and can be had for around $25 and $19 a bottle respectively. We’ve also tried Monchhof and Shafer-Frohlich Felseneck with favorable results.

I think we did try the '12 G-H spatlese and enjoyed it a lot. However, as mentioned above we haven’t done any in-depth notes on the recent vintages so we don’t know what to buy in quantity yet. We’re still enamored with the '07 spatlese, '03 & '06 auslese, and both '02 spatlese and auslese. The '12 Gold Kapsel is the only one that immediately comes to mind as a must buy so far. Might have to give the W-S a try. Thanks for the tip.

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Dennis,
Novice? I think not!

WS Kab from 2002 has been drinking great the last few years.

Stimulated by low close out prices I’ve also bought several of the 2003 Auslese bottlings figuring that Prum is Prum and something good will happen, and I retain that faith.

I also thought that the 2006 GH was luscious and bought a lot. To me, it is less attractive now with some of the baby fat gone but I’m sure I’ll be happy to have it in the years ahead.

I wish the I could speak about the 1983. In those days I was foolishly buying 1982 Bordeaux and 1977 Port instead of Riesling.
I will, as they say, be right over.

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'02 might be the most underrated vintage in Mosel and there’s not one bad classification that year. Several friends ITB have very high regards for that region that year. Wish I could find more G-H spatlese at reasonable prices.

I firmly believe you & I will both be rewarded for trusting in the name. At under $35 a bottle for the G-H and under $40 for the W-S when I bought it, I think I scored. It’s getting better as time goes by and I think it has just enough acidity to balance the sweetness and age well for the next decade.

Agreed - it seems to be in a low spot in it’s evolution, almost like a dumb phase for lack of a better term - between that lively pop of youth and mellow balance of age. Still not bad and I’d drink it any day. I have 2 loose bottles to try, one in a year and another in two years. The case is marked “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL CHRISTMAS 2017”. (no, not really - but you know what I mean)

Yeah… that’s not exactly a bad decision. [cheers.gif]

I’ll hit the Wegman’s for some Appenzeller and Jarlsberg. [wow.gif] [drinkers.gif]

29

I like vintages with higher acidity and so really like 2010 and 2012 (and 2008 and 2013). For a really great 2010, try a Schloss Lieser GCA.

30

I loved the 83s (I think I paid $7.99 for the Spatlese), but give me the 90s. I guess I am just an acid freak and the 90s really have the focus I love in German wines.

31

Thanks for the notes! The 2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese was delicious a few weeks ago. Went down very easy, would love to drink this from magnum …

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[rofl.gif]

Oh, the Timothy Leary jokes that could be made… I’ll spare everyone though since I don’t want to start another [pillow-fight.gif]

It’s certainly a matter of taste. There’s no way I’d turn down a more acidic Riesling like you and a couple others in this thread describe, but I prefer a slightly more flamboyant profile.

33

Balance! I like balanced, refreshing wines, so 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2012 are my favorites (2010 was a bit much for my taste) through the years. Since I started this journey with the 1995 vintage (and I have almost never bought in the secondary market) my 1990 experiences are not terribly broad.

Years such as 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011 are buried in the cellar. Based on other producers I am seeing some improvement in focus, but not enough for me to open much as of yet.

34

There was no '12 WS Kabinett at Prum, so it must have been the GH.