2006 - Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese, Joh. Jos. Prum

The Prum 2006 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese is seductively scented with gardenia, hyacinth, and musky exotic flowers that remind me of stepping into a greenhouse. These are backed by very ripe pear and nectarine, while notes of botrytis spice also nip at the nose. A soothing, polished, enveloping, sweet and strikingly delicate palate gives equal representation to ripe, subtly-dried fruit, sweet floral inner-mouth perfume and spices. As usual at this address, retained CO2 and efficacious ripe acidity keep the long finish lively, enhancing its wafting sense of near-weightlessness. I suspect one could be happy following this for 30 or more years. (There were two bottlings of this wine – one this year – of which I tasted the first, A.P. #12 07.) The Prums picked Wehlen and Zeltingen first, while the Graacher Himmelreich resisted botrytis to a greater degree, and by the time they came to Bernkastel (shades of the scenario at Selbach) botrytis was so advanced that they ended up vinifying their first-ever Beerenauslese from those sites. “From the standpoint of quantity, it was a catastrophe,” says Manfred Prum, but he judges this likely the greatest vintage of his lifetime, yet also as a vintage that is open and accessible early. I therefore had the opportunity to taste a wider range of young nobly sweet wines here than normal, although I was not able to re-taste them after bottling. There is in fact very little to taste at this estate from 2006 other than nobly sweet wine. Miniscule amounts of “normal” Spatlese (which I did not taste) were bottled from the Himmelreich and Sonnenuhr. Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424 and Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463

Pale golden yellow. Fine bouquet of blackcurrant, tropical fruits and sweet herbs. Pure, rich and complex on the palate, with subtle nut oil and brown spice notes keeping the creamy custard-like flavor bright and ethereal. Unctuous yet lively, with a long, complex finish.

Pale lemon in colour. The classic flinty reduction of J J Prüm’s wines still lingers, making the wine seem remarkably youthful – it smells less than five years old. Honey, apricots but steely minerality too. Initially sweet and generous, very honeyed fruit. Quite fat with some earthy marmalade adding complexity. Good zippy acidity tames this generous and rich style. Very long and powerful on the finish. More to come as that sweetness continues to mellow. (TP)