1999 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (1/20/2023)
After a corked 1998 WS Auslese I quickly grabbed this as a replacement. It needed some air, but then who doesn’t after more than twenty years trapped in a bottle. With about an hour of air it showed all the tropical and ripe peach fruit I was expecting, with only a little bit of brown sugar glaze from age. Not a bottle for acid fanatics, but there’s a serenity and grace to the wine, a beauty. It’s quite compelling, and very, very Prüm.
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I had a couple of these in '20. Good drink, very Prum, but not much more. Sounds like a similar experience.
Yes. I actually think the Himmelreich is more interesting in 1999, but I would not kick the Wehlener to the curb. It was lovely with our Thai food tonight.
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What kind of growing season favors Graacher over Wehlener, and is it consistent over the range of wines?
Depends on Pradikat, but I find Spatlese up thrives in WS as it is a richer site, while Kabinett thrives in most years and Spatlese can with a touch more warmth in GH as it is racier. Not that acidity is ever really an issue for either site.
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Mark,
I’m not David but wehlener Sonnenunr achieves more ripeness than Himmelreich in general. IMO it’s a more powerful rendition of Middle Mosel riesling. A warm year like ‘99 would likely favor a site with cooler characteristics.
This is a reason why a cooler region like the Saar did better than most regions in 99. Wehlener Sonnenuhr is a fantastic Vineyard by any measure. Himmelreich has terrific dirt but is a little less powerful-ripe all other things being equal.
I tend to prefer Willi Schaefer’s Himmelreich over (Domprobst In Warmer years
This is a generalization, but I think it’s playing out with climate change in a lot of the historically heralded sites in warmer years show less of their relative historical pedigree vis a vis sites with good soil but maybe a cooler profile like GH.
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@Mark_Golodetz I would say that @Todd_Tucker nailed it pretty well.
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FWIW both 1999 Willi Schaefer Auction Auslese and 1999 Egon Muller Spatlese Auction really blossomed after several hours of airing. They went from being very good to extraordinary. If time allows in future- I realize it did not here- 4-5 hours in a decanter can work wonders. For whatever reason it seems somewhat specific to this vintage. I am big on decanting old Riesling for a long time in general, but the best 1999s really seem to demand it.
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For me 95%+ of the time extended air (decanting or open multiple days) makes German Rieslings of any age less appealing. Different strokes. YMMV. Etc.