2017 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel AP 17
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Tasting notes
Scents of pear and quince suggest a fresh as well as jellied aspect, mingled with mint, fennel and anise. The creamy palate delivers a corresponding combination of freshness and cooling green herbacity as well as bright grapefruit and lime citricity that is remarkable for a wine at once richly confitured in flavors and slicked with honeyed traces of botrytis. As if the aforementioned complex and harmonious juxtaposition were not striking enough, this beauty’s vibrant, soaring finish adds stimulating cress-like nips to its already diverse herbal arsenal. (I have not tasted the bottling of Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Goldkapsel – A.P. #21 – that went to auction.)
Critic scores
James Suckling
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
This is at once racy and understated â somehow fresh, somehow ripe, somehow mineral. Reticent but profound, it suggests freshly fallen snow, sliced yuzu against porcelain plate, freshly picked loquat and perfectly candied citrus. The sweetness sits at the back of your palate with force, delaying its attack, before sweeping inwards and threatening to outflank the acidity at every curve of the mouth; ultimately, neither side prevails, but every pixel of every component tessellates into place like a magnificent mosaic of rainbow colors. Drink now, but better decades ahead.
The 2017 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese (Gold Capsule), AP 17 18, is deep and flinty on the perfectly ripe, intense and tropical-scented nose with its ripe yellow nectarine and peach aromas. The wine exhibits very fine botrytis with crunchy-salty slate features on the palate and is racy-piquant, highly stimulating, crisp and crunchy on the finish, with lingering salinity. This 2017 Sonnenuhr is still very young and needs time to calm down but is still lush and fresh, and the bottle will be emptied before you have even thought about the wine. It's very long, complex and tensioned—just fabulous. Tasted in March 2019.
About the producer
Joh. Jos. Prüm is the benchmark estate of the Middle Mosel, renowned for Rieslings of exceptional delicacy, precision, and longevity. From the legendary slopes of Wehlener Sonnenuhr to Graacher Himmelreich, their wines capture a singular balance of lightness, tension and mineral purity.