Joh. Jos Prum 'Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese' Riesling 2017

SKU
JPRA201711 UCAU
  • 93 points - Wine Spectator
  • 91 points - International Wine Cellar
  • 17/20 points - Julia Harding MW
  • 1 or more bottles
    $130.00
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  • Kim Marcus
    93 points

Editors notes

"..an intense, savory aroma, with racy flavors of slate, sea salt and white pepper accented by green apple and white cherry notes. Fine, bright apricot fruit. It is sweet but somehow you hardly notice the sweetness within the harmony of fruit and acidity and minerality. Dense but very light on its feet. Long." - Wine Spectator

Drink now through 2038

Details

Tasting Profile

  • Light (Light)
    Full (Full)
  • Low Tannin (Low Tannin)
    Tannic (Tannic)
  • Sweet (Sweet)
    Dry (Dry)
  • Low Acidity (Low Acidity)
    High Acidity (High Acidity)
  • Aroma
    • Lemon
    • Lime
    • Mineral
  • Palate
    • Chalk
    • Honeydew
    • Lemon

Food Pairings

  • Asian
  • Fish
  • Shellfish

Critic Scores & reviews

  • Kim Marcus

    93
    "Features an intense, savory aroma, with racy flavors of slate, sea salt and white pepper accented by green apple and white cherry notes. Airy and light on the vibrant finish, which offers touches of elegance. Drink now through 2038."

Other vintages

Love this wine? Here's a list of other vintages we have in stock if you'd like to try them as well.

Current auction

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Locations

Germany

Germany is fully capable of producing some of the world's great white wines. One hundred years ago the demand for and thus prices commanded for the wines from the finest vineyards in Piesport, Morcobrunn and Rudesheim rivalled the best wines from Bordeaux. Largely due to the lack of government regulation into the quality of wine output, Germany over the past century became known for producing sweet sugar-water wines at cheap costs, flooding the world market. This has had a negative effect on the perception of German wines worldwide, but rest assured we only choose to stock German wines of high quality.

The Riesling grape with all its versatility is the main grape variety, and whilst many countries make Riesling, none can match the mouth-watering freshness and supreme delicacy achieved in a Mosel Kabinett from a top producer. Germany's dry Rieslings as a rule tend to be very graceful and elegant as compared to Rieslings from other countries, with an emphasis on finesse, not power. Standout producers such as Robert Weil make the headlines, but Donnhoff, JL Wolf, A Christmann and Dr Loosen are too worth seeking out.

Another most interesting contribution from Germany was Eiswine (ice wine), which until the 1970s was a freak of nature, though is now carefully managed. To produce Eiswine, parcels of vines are left out exposed to the frost, and although the production cost is astronomical they remain very popular. Robust Pinot Blancs and Pinot Gris are also produced in the whites and Pinot Noir, referred to as Spätburgunder is also grown.

The climate in Germany is, for the most part, cool, the exception being in the Pfalz and in Baden. As a result, vineyards are carefully selected with good sunlight exposure a must. For example along the banks of the Mosel River, vines are only planted on one side, as there isn't enough sunlight exposure to ripen grapes on the north-facing side.

Key regions include Mosel and Nahe where extraordinary Rieslings are produced.

Mosel

Mosel to make it a name considered more consumer-friendly. Mosel is one of 13 wine-growing regions in Germany and is located in the South-Eastern corner of the country along the Mosel River, from which the area was named.

Along with most of Germany, the region has a northern continental climate, so the key here is to get as much sun exposure on to the vines, else they won't ripen. For this reason, grapes are grown only on certain slopes along the Mosel river, as across the river on the other side, there is simply not enough sunlight for the grapes to grow. The steep slopes along the Mosel River makes some of the vineyards the most labour intensive in the world. No machines can be used on the steep slopes that are so dangerous they have claimed the lives of some vineyard workers.

The wines from the upper Mosel are characterised by low alcohol levels (6-9%). Wines of middle Mosel are some of the finest examples in all of Germany, perfectly balanced and poised. Top wines are known to comfortably cellar for 50 or even 100 years!

Most all Mosel wines are packaged in green 'Hock' style bottles and a key characteristic of all Mosel wines is their normally high-acidity and clearly defined flavours. Riesling is the king of the Mosel region where anything from dry to delicious dessert wines are made.

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Pairs Well With

Whether it's a decadent cheese, mouth-watering red meat, perfectly cooked poultry, succulent seafood, or a vegetarian feast, for every wine or spirit you choose from us, we provide you with a number of helpful suggestions for what will pair deliciously with your purchase.

Frequently Bought With

About the brand Joh. Jos. Prum

Established by Johann Josef Prüm (1873 - 1944), the J.J. Prüm estate was born in 1911. Dr. Manfred Prüm had led the estate since 1969 and now his daughter Katharina has taken over the mantle. The 13.5-hectare estate includes some 70% of ungrafted vines (because the phylloxera louse cannot survive in these slate soils.) All of the vineyards of J.J. Prüm are renowned, yet it is the great Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard that is the most famous. This site lies opposite the village of Wehlen on a very steep, south-west facing slope between the Graach and Zeltingen vineyards. Stuart Pigott notes; “For wine lovers around the world, the Wehlener Sonnenuhr name is synonymous with great Riesling. In top vintages, the site yields the richest, silkiest, most seductive wines on the Mosel. The fame of these Rieslings is inextricably linked with that of the Joh Jos Prüm estate.” Having said this, Prüm also produces outstanding wine from benchmark sites in Graach (Graacher Himmelreich), Zeltingen (Zeltinger Sonnenuhr) and Bernkastel (Bernkasteler Badstube) and it is very difficult to pick these wines apart in blind tastings – they are all exceptional. Yet they all subtly express the unique personality of the vineyard in a given year. Although the J.J. Prum vineyards all border each other along the same riverbank and share roughly the same soils (Devonian slate), each site has subtle, yet important differences that result in quite distinctive styles of wine.

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