TN: 2010 J.J. Prum WS Spatlese

Bought a bottle at a local shop here in Franklin, TN.

What a complete and utter let down. No real fruit and lacking any acid at all. Tasted like lightly flavoured sugar water. Complete night and day vs. the 2009 I had last week. Anybody else have a better experience here?

I certainly hope so, as I got a few of these coming.

Well I had the 2010 Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese the other night. It was very good and very Prum. No angels sang, no stars fell. It was Prum.

Tasted across the range on release, and the auction wines. Not worried about letting mine rest a decade or so before drinking.

Why the hurry Bill? It’s barely left the winery and yet you expect immediate fireworks - Prum is well known to take at least a decade before things start to happen in a big way - if you talked to Katharina Prum she would confirm this. Kabinett from WS I’d drink and enjoy earlier but Spatlese and above you must be patient as most of them go through a dumb stage early on, sometimes lasting several years.

Rich

Rich, I only tried it because it was on the shelf here and on sale for $31.99 a bottle. I figured I would give it a whirl since I six bottles comming.

I agree that Prum takes some time to strut it’s stuff, but even when young, Bill should be able to taste the acidity.

Yes, it’s the comment about lacking acidity that really surprises me. Personally, I won’t open any Prum this young because I don’t like the “weird” aromas that I get from them, but I’ve never known acid to hide and re-emerge.

Not necessarily; Prum’s wines often appear to be overblown with fruit and out of balance when young - I have experienced this often over many years of tasting these wines. Even their Kabinett wines can take 3-4 years before becoming more approachable. Aslo, there were no problems with acidity at Prum in 2010 so, just be patient, the rewards will likely be sublime in 6-10 years+. However, if the buyers not happy then he can turn to Prum’s other offerings or go elsewhere. A possible alternative is it may have been a problem bottle but I would think that unlikely.

Sounds like an off bottle. What kind of “off,” I haven’t a clue … but a Prum WS Spat. should not taste like that … ever.



For the record, I had an '03 Prum WS Spat. a couple years ago that I described in nearly an identical manner as Bill described this '10.

Are we talking no discernable acidity or no acidity truly? I’d go back to the shop and discuss this issue with them if it were me. I’d want to try another bottle from the same case/batch, gratis, in order to try and get to the bottom of this. I really hope that Bill can make sense of this, get some satisfaction and a possible answer to this issue. For there to be a problem with such a wine from one of the world’s greatest producers/vineyards requires further probing. My other thought was that it could be an end batch bottling issue - let us know how this turns out Bill, I’m very intruiged.

Getting into a little more detail - there was plenty of acidity in the Graacher Himmelreich, plenty of elegant fruit and little or no discernable sulfur!

It just doesn’t make sense does it?

http://www.vinnicombe-wine.de/download/report/Harvest%202010.pdf

I am talking flat…no acid bite at all. I will be back in Nashville next week and will try another bottle. The wine manager is pretty cool and evidently the owner is a big German fan, so I should not have any issues.

That sure sounds like a bad (very bad) bottle.

Good luck Bill and let us know the outcome.[cheers.gif]

I still contend that you should have been able to taste the acidity. Even in the warmest, fastest, flabbiest years, JJ Prum is never apfelsaft.

I guess I have had amazing luck with JJ Prum, but bad bottles happen to everyone. Did it taste “raisiny”, Bill?

Best I can describe it: the liquid from fruit cocktail in “lite” syrup.

In 30 years of drinking Prum this the first time I’ve encountered this problem. To say I’m astonished is an understatement.

Sounds just like the bottle of Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese I opened a couple of weeks ago…

But Todd, 2010 is the “greatest vintage ever*” for J. J. Prum!

*read elsewhere on the internet a few days ago