The Fine Wine Experience -J.J. Prüm Finest and Rarest Wine Dinner The Grand Hyatt © Linden Wilkie

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In Review…

The Fine Wine Experience Joh Jos. Prüm Finest and Rarest Wine Dinner

with Katharina Prüm and Wilhelm Steifensand The Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong, 30th January 2015 © Linden Wilkie

It’s been some years since I have had the privilege to taste such an array of rare

Prüm wines, and my first chance to taste one from the 1930s. In some respects there

is a sense of tasting wines that are ‘older’ or ‘younger’, but tasting blind I’m not sure

how close I would get. Being out by decades in a guess would be easily possible even

for an experienced taster. The wines evolve, and reward cellaring, yes, but the

majority never seem to fade in the way that wines from other regions do. We are

never quite left with just the furniture and no upholstery in the way we are

elsewhere. The perception of residual sugar declines with bottle age (such that a

kabinett or spätlese might taste only off-dry), yet the wines retain their natural

balance.

Balance is key here as it is anywhere, but the factors that limit have been for decades

the opposite factors to those experienced in warmer climates. As we discussed 2003

and 1976 – different but both hot summers, Katharina Prüm offered her father’s

maxim: “you will never have too little acidity in the Mosel”. That faith gets tested in

vintages like 1959, 1976 and 2003, yet these are three great Prüm years, despite

heatwaves. So long as phenolic ripeness is achieved, (as it was in all the wines we

tasted tonight) longevity is assured through an elegant sort of intensity and great

balance between fruitiness and acidity.

To my taste, the less successful wines this evening were the Eisweins. The Mosel was

cooler in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the ’61 and ’62 didn’t seem to offer anything extra

through the risk and effort of picking the grape frozen in winter – they showed less

coherence and balance, despite still being enjoyable. They are rare and expensive,

and so I would always be on the look out for an older ‘feine’ or ‘feinste’ Auslese and

put my money there rather than these older Eisweins. The same is not true today.

Prüm’s current Eiswein offering – a 2002 Graacher Himmelreich Eiswein – is

textbook balance and intensity, and delivers what Eiswein delivers best, razor sharp

precision and purity.

Where cellaring really seems to reward patience the most is in the auslese category

where, in the absence of the bortrytis and dried fruit intensity of the higher prädikats

like Beerenauslese and TBA, the wines need time to mellow and show their true level

of nuance (much like Bordeaux or Burgundy). Great BA and TBA wines usually show

rewardingly when young, and then hold (in my view) for decades, the great ones

offering even more with age, but not always so.

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The general rule of thumb is that kabinett and spätlese, being the lighter, less rich

categories, are approachable and enjoyable younger. That is generally true, but with

two important caveats. First: don’t be afraid to age these wines too. The ’82 and ’81

we began this dinner with had a lot to offer, it’s just that they would have reached

this current plateau a long time ago, so the wait was not necessary (except of course

so we could see!). Second: over the few days the Prüms were in Hong Kong we drank

rather a lot of young – even current release – auslese and auslese goldkap with food,

and it was great. The snappy, more direct fruitiness of youth is a great foil for rich,

flavorsome foods.

If you think some of my notes below are a little enthusiastic, well, they are, but I

mean them sincerely. I’ve chased these wines for years and so I was not surprised by

the brilliant showing of the likes of ’83, ’76, ’75, ’71, ’59 and ’49. But I really had no

idea about the ’38, a wine with a high reputation. But that bottle proved truly

immortal. One of the best bottles of any wine I’ve ever had. These wines are, and

always have been made in miniscule quantities. That is true at any Mosel estate, but

particularly so here, and in contrast to the Egon Müller Scharzhofberg estate where

botrytis-laden wines (of undoubted brilliance) are a goal each harvest. At Prüm, the

aims are driven more by a reaction to what the season brings. The higher-prädikat

wines are made or they are not. So TBA at Prüm is very rare, seldom available at

commercial release. Out of hundreds and hundreds of Prüm bottles drunk over the

years, this was perhaps the 6th or 7th time I had tasted a Prüm TBA of any vintage,

let alone the second vintage of TBA they ever made – ’38 (which followed ’37, a

famous vintage). Quantities will usually amount to a few dozen bottles, maybe 100

litres in a great year, maybe not. The Prüms don’t say.

All the wines below were paired with – successfully I would say – a fine Cantonese

menu at the Grand Hyatt. The exceptions were the last two wines, which we sat – in

awe – and savoured on their own.

Participants at the dinner were asked to pick their two favourite wines. Votes are

recorded below my tasting notes.

2002 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett

Fine, mineral grapefruit nose; great elegance here, well buffered by fruit and extract,

long red grapefruit finish. Lovely wine, drinking well. 91.

No votes

1982 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett





Still pale and bright; the nose is earthy with lime and talc notes; elegant and light on

the palate, now expressing itself as dry. Lacks a bit of drive and length, but

charming. Crisp. Long finish of Rose’s Lime Cordial. 88.

No votes

1981 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese

A touch more colour than the ’82; an earthy, slightly mushroomy mature nose, still

positive; a touch more weight on the palate, an earthy and very mineral-driven palate

expression, cooler vintage feel, with the just-ripe tanginess of lemongrass and kaffir

lime leaf. Cool and refreshing expression. 89.

No votes

1966 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr feine Auslese

(from a pre-1971 label convention: “feine auslese” denoting one step up the

classification from “auslese”). Mid gold, light and limpid colour; earthy, zesty mineral

nose; elegant and light expression, spätlese feel (in today’s money), this is very pure

and refined, and ‘straight’ (no botrytis expression). Mosel elegance defined. 94.

No votes

1959 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Zeltinger Sonnenuhr feine Auslese

Pale gold, very fresh appearance; nougat and zest, sun-kissed and somewhat exotic

nose, not too dissimilar to the 2003s at this prädikat level; on the palate slightly

honeyed, though not weighed done by the exotic notes, this stays airy and ethereal,

ageless in taste and mouthfeel. Vanilla cream at the finish. Really lovely. 96.

1 Vote





1949 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr feinste

Auslese

(“feinste auslese” being one level up from “feine auslese”,

similar to Auslese Goldkap today). Bright bronzy old gold in

colour; toffeed, honeyed and dried fruits / apricots nose, rich,

ripe, and botrytis infused on the nose; honeyed nougat, ripe,

candied apple, smoky from botrytis and long bottle age, still

some impression of residual sugar, lovely balance and energy

still. Long, long finish. Terrific. 97.

1 Vote

1949 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Zeltinger Sonnuhr feinste Auslese

(prior to 1971, grapes from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard and the Zeltinger

Sonnenuhr vineyard were sometimes blended to make the “Wehlener Zeltinger

Sonnuhr” label). Slightly cloudy in appearance next to the other ’49 – a rich looking

bright bronze gold, with a very yellow, Chinese gold rim; ripe, sweet nose, with notes

of porcini and champignon mushrooms, notes of marzipan and spice; bold, round and

layered on the palate, which shows more authority and layering than the nose, minty

botrytis notes are prominent, intense concentration and flavor (feels like the level of

long goldcapsule, of auction goldcapsule), yet still with Mosel elegance, flow and

energy. The only let down here seems to be the cork which has allowed a cheesy (brie)

and mushroom note to creep in to the wine. (This is not TCA, explained Katharina

Prüm, but a cork issue nonetheless, which she has experienced from time to time

with older wines). But the palate is singing. I imagine an unaffected bottle would

blow our socks off. 91.

1 Vote

1964 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr feinste Auslese

Mid-gold yellow; mineral, fresh but also smoky, zingy expression; fine, but a more

broad-textured ripe feel, fine marmalade taste and feel, airy enough, but the acidity

here is lower, so it lacks snap. Flavours are lovely. Good. 88.

No Votes





1983 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Goldkapsel

Bright pale gold; intense marmalade and apricot, spice, very clean, fresh, youthful

and precise in expression; zingy, juicy on the palate with focused extract, fresh, very

persistent and energetic long, but light, airy finish. Flat out terrific. Drinking well

now, but on a many decades-long plateau, and will still evolve positively with further

cellaring. A landmark Prüm at this prädikat level. 97.

2 Votes

1971 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Goldkapsel

Full gold; ripe, botrytis and mint nose, mature; juicy beautifully refreshing style,

honeyed touch of decadence in the mid-palate, botrytis and mineral on the long very

complex aromatic finish. Everything is here in balance. This is in another league.

Exceptional. I’ve been spoiled enough to have had this over a dozen times, and it

usually leaves me quite floored like this bottle did tonight – one of the absolute

greatest wines. 98.

3 Votes

1961 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Eiswein Auslese

(Until the 1980s when Eiswein was made only from frozen berries picked at

Beerenauslese level, it was possible to make auslese at any prädikat level, so long as

the grapes were sufficiently frozen. In other words, today, there would be no such

thing as a kabinett, spätlese, auslese, feine auslese or feinste auslese Eiswein, but

such bottles from the ‘70s and ‘60s exist. They are now very rare.) Fine yellow gold,

solid colour; yellow plum aroma, very fresh and expressive, lanolin and white flowers,

and a touch of nougat; the weight balance is quite forward on the palate, where the





fruit flavor is intense, acidity carries through to the finish, but the flavours trail off a

little disappointingly. Acidity remains fresh and citric (rather than “sweet and sour”

and volatile). Nice, but a bit incomplete and showing its age. 86.

No Votes

1962 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Zeltinger Sonnuhr Eiswein feine Auslese

Full bronze gold; smoky, exuberant, mature nose, toffee and dried fruits, good but not

complex in expression; ripe, fleshy, broad-textured (like the ’64), but very juicy and

intense – higher in acidity. Longer finish than the ’61 Eiswein just tasted. This is

coherent and balanced, with the Eiswein effect giving the acid a little volatile prickle.

It’s good, but overall, the trade off for the intensity is less grace and elegance than the

non-Eiswein wines here. 87.

No Votes

1975 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese long Goldpkapsel

Fresh old gold; very fresh candied peach, quince nose, a beautifully nuanced and

decadent aroma; intense, very fresh, quite mineral, slightly smoky, then the minty

botrytis coming through clearly on the finish that builds and builds. There is a great

mineral-acid tension throughout and everything is well defined. Fantastic! 98.

4 Votes (overall third most popular)

1971 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Eiswein Auslese Goldkapsel

Deep amber with a narrow yellow rim – very old in appearance; intense raisin and

prune nose, but also a malty quite oxidative aroma which mutes any nuance – it is

simply a rich, tangy nose; very concentrated on the palate, easily Beerenauslese level

in spite of the label, liqueur-rich, with a creamy moelleux mouthfeel, intense sweet &

sour acidity driving the whole very intense effect along to to a long, toffeed, burnt

sugar finish, with intense dried apricot ringing on the finish. Decadent, bold and

delicious, but any nuance that was once here has been muted a bit by oxygen. 90.

No Votes

1976 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Beerenauslese

Orange gold; tobacco and mint botrytis, with candied Turkish apricot on the totally

“wow!” nose. Fresh and ringing like a bell in vibrant expression; apricots in cream on

the palate, fresh, refreshing even (only a Mosel Beerenauslese can pull of this trick at

this level of richness), with an apricot skinsy phenolically intense flavor and texture,

and a bitter-sweet refreshing finish. After another half an hour of so of aeration, a

Satsuma orange note came through – fresh but lightly poached. The overall effect

here is aromatic intensity, precision, nuance and airiness – qualities only the greatest

wines can ever deliver. Knock out BA. 97.

7 Votes (overall second most popular)





1938 Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Zeltinger Sonnuhr Trockenbeerenauslese

Lovely limpid coper gold colour with a yellow gold rim, brilliant clarity and brightness

in the glass; we popped and poured this but it took just ten minutes or so for this to

awake from its 77 year slumber. Initially volatile acidity occupied the aromatics,

while the palate immediately showed this wine’s superb concentration, brightness,

clarity, detail and definition, with a zingy, lively, pure finish. But over the next few

minutes more and more complexity was revealed – a smoky, almost Lapsang Suchong

tea like note came through in the aroma, and nougat and coffee-cream on the palate.

The acidity freshened and tightened, the volatility having blown off, and more nuance

was revealed. The balance is absolutely perfect. It actually tastes and feels elegant

despite its still-sweet intensity. Everything is so clear, exquisitely expressed and

endlessly long, with bortrytis tobacco, mint, fruit, coffee and tea intermingling. One of

the very greatest wines I have ever tasted. 100.

9 Votes (overall most popular).

Full disclosure: The Fine Wine Experience is now Hong Kong agent for retail and private client sales for Prüm wines, and I am a director of The Fine Wine Experience. The notes above are my personal opinions of the wines tasted this evening. –Linden Wilkie.



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The Fine Wine Experience -J.J. Prüm Finest and Rarest Wine Dinner The Grand Hyatt © Linden Wilkie