Vinoculation

J J Prϋm

At J J Prum

This was a morning I was looking forward to with both excitement and trepidation. I understand J J Prϋm is not an easy place to get into for tasting, they do not normally receive visitors. Like some other great estates, the building is only denoted by a dull bronze plaque:

Amai Prϋm – Manfred’s wife and Katarina’s mother hosted us for the morning. The tasting was structured and very instructive, and over nearly two hours we went through the intricacies of Wehlen vs Graach, character of the 08 vintage and similarity to 04, and then the contrast to 07. From the first Spätlese the wines we tasted below were served blind:

08 Kabinett

08 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett

08 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese

04 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese

04 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese

07 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese

A hallmark of these wines is their elegance, to which this label aspires. The two 08s certainly project this way and the Kabinett comes across as almost dry. The 08 Spätlese really shows why the Prϋms believe this is a Spätlese vintage, this is a thing of beauty. The 04 shows the similarity of the two vintages, and at the end the 07 is much more open and giving. This was a freshly opened bottle, and the bottle stink threw me and I thought it was an age character. Knowing the Prϋm wines stay fresh for a long long time (a 95 tasted in May 10 tasted 3 years old) I though this could be anything up to 15 years old. Imagine my horror when the 07 label was revealed.

J J Prϋm also make a trocken which is only available in Germany.

We also talk about the Bridge over the Mosel which is proposed to cut right through vineyards at Urzig. Amai is naturally horrified, but reactions within the valley vary from horrified protest to a belief there is a lot to be gained fro the bridge.

We also get an understanding of the various Prϋm’s in the Valley – There is JJ Prϋm, Stϋdert Prϋm, Wiens Prϋm and SA Prϋm. The last of these brands is owned by Peter Mertes, a big German conglomerate, and perhaps stands apart from the rest of the family.  We move on from this subject quickly as it seems to be a prickly one.

Interstingly Amai expresses a preference for the Graach wines and their spicy elegance over the Wehlen wines and their more open floral tones. I have seen others prefer these to the Wehlen wines, despite the latter having the most revered reputation.

Gracious lady that she is, Amai accompanied us back to our car which was parked some distance away, as the street where the Prϋm facility is located was being torn up at the time.

What an experience – a visit to the home of one of the holy grails of riesling. We actually stop for a half hour to take a breath before we go on to our afternoon appointment.

Reinhold Haart

Reinhold Haart

Reinhold Haart’s facility is about 25km further up river, and like Prϋm is right on the Mosel itself. Johannes Haart greets us and shows us through a large range of the Haart wines:

09 Piesporter Riesling

09 Haart to Heart

08 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Kabinett

08 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Spätlese

09 Grafenberg kabinett

09 Domherr Spätlese

09 Ohligsberger Spätlese

09 Piesporter Goltröpfchen kabinett

09 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Spätlese

02 Domherr Spätlese

04 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Spätlese

91 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Spätlese

03 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Auslese

09 Piesporter Goltröpfchen Auslese

The wines were very consistent – every Piesporter Goltröpfchen and Domherr wine was correct in that it showed its vineyard characteristics and also reflected vintage. Goltröpfchen and Domherr are adjacent, and contain finer soils than some of the slates elsewhere. They also retain a lot of heat, and overall this should produce riper, richer wines in any given vintage. The Ohligsberger was the point of difference looking more like other middle Mosels, as the vineyards is further away and contains more slate in its soils.

The 08’s and 09’s behave the way they should with 08 more acidic and elegant, the 09’s more immediately giving and enjoyable.

The common flavour characters are lemon and sugar cane juice. These are fun wines, relying more on clarity of flavour and power in their youth than elegance and complexity. They are all site and vintage correct, and the outcomes for each wine are almost predictable. Bear in mind of course power is a relative thing in the Mosel, where balance is everything! The older wines demonstrate that these do age, even in low acid vintages like 2003. Perhaps this was hard after the elation of Prϋm, but suffice to say I have Haart in my cellar and will continue to do so over time.

Closures

Having now tasted at 5 different producers, attitudes toward closures are emerging. They vary. Schmitges has gone straight to Stelvin Luxe on the grounds he will not tolerate 5% failure rate from cork (his words). Prϋm will stay with cork, believing Screwcap and glass are not suitable from long ageing wines. Haart is in between, screwcaps on the entry level wines. Dönnhoff is all cork. I actually don’t remember what sealed the Schaefer Fröhlichs but I have vague recollections of the same approach as Haart. Everyone was surprised when I put forward that 98% of Rieslings in Australia are sealed under screwcap.

Amai Prϋm also suggested that if one was to reseal an unfinished bottle for later consumption, always put the same end of the cork back into the bottle as was originally in there. The rationale is that when a bottle is sealed, it might sit for some time in a producers cellar before it is labelled and the capsule added. Any odours or other matter attaching to the outside of the cork would then be transferred to the contents. Sounds logical, but there’s the issue of the damn cork expanding…

Tomorrow: Willi Schaefer, Schloss Lieser, Fritz Haag.