2009 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel AP 12

Very pale gold. Middle-aged Riesling on the nose and then wonderfully sweet, honeyed, golden syrup/botrytis palate. Really quite sweet. This would need careful food matching, or perhaps would be best just sipped after – or even with – dinner in a summer garden? It would seem a shame to wait until it dried with age. Wonderfully delicate. (JR)

The Prums’ (non auction) 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese gold capsule A.P. #18 – like the corresponding Graacher Himmelreich – can be described as “confectionary,” but there most similarity ends. In this instance, the sheer sense of sweetness is much less overriding, and the prominent aromas and flavors are of malt, caramel, vanilla cream, hazelnut paste, and chestnut puree. The textural creaminess of this Auslese is sheer seduction and its sense of depth and layering – of mysterious darkness even – no less enticing. Yet at the same time, it (and indeed in 2009, it seems, wine from this site generally) retains a fresh fruit edge over its Himmelreich counterpart (whereas the converse was true in 2008) along with a mouth-watering sense of salinity. And so, we have a finish not just astonishingly persistent, but possessed of striking delicacy, enervation, and irresistible juiciness. I suspect this will merit following from 30-40 years. The Prums noted that their 2009s (harvested from mid-October to mid-November) were unusually expressive at a young age – even in September when I tasted, little more than a month after most of them were bottled – in that respect contrasting decisively, they thought, with the recalcitrant 2008s. (That’s their opinion, please note. My own enthusiastic account of their young 2008s in issue 187 testifies to my belief that those wines were themselves testifying eloquently, even though in general 2008s were said by their growers to be slow to open.) “Although the acids are very ripe,” notes Manfred Prum of his 2009s – drawing parallels with 1997 – “they are also very present.” This latest collection tops out with Eiswein from both Bernkastel and Graach (which makes two from the Himmelreich in one year, since the 2008 was picked in January, 2009) and a B.A. (or – depending on how it evolves – it may be labeled as T.B.A.) from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr, none of which I have tasted. (In keeping with past practice, I am not normally privy to the A.P.#s of every wine I taste from this collection, and the Prums remain anxious to assure me and my readers that whenever more than one lot of the same name in Kabinett or non-auction Spatlese range is bottled care is exercised to see that the differences will be minimal. In the case of Auslesen, I have however confirmed and included A.P.#s in any instances of two otherwise eponymous wines.) Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. 918 622 0424 and Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA tel. 800 596 9463