Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese Prum 2021

Joh.(annes) Jos.(eph) Prüm, known as JJ Prüm, is widely recognized as one of the most superb German wines in the world. Even the solid mansion that hosts the company's headquarters in Wehlen, in the Moselle valley, looks like an official institution, a castle or a museum where the art of wine has been practiced for centuries.

For four hundred years, the Prüms cultivate vineyards on the Moselle on "the most favorable terrain along the entire river", as a historian of these parts already claimed in the nineteenth century. And when you ask Manfred Prüm, an elegant lord of seventy, the secret of his exceptional Riesling, replies that "there is no secret that perhaps the merit is due to the work of previous generations" because his ancestors also "considered Quality as a priority task. " But in the second leg acknowledges the merit of its 22 hectares of land, all in enviable positions. A great part of the vineyards are ungrafted. But there is a five-hectare plot, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, named after a Sundial, which an ancestor of the current owner placed in this land in 1842. Fully devoted to Riesling, this vineyard gives life to the masterpieces of the house, wines that got scores of one hundred percent and reached 1.000 dollars a bottle. Esteemed vineyards are also Graacher Himmelreich, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Bernkasteler Badstube, lands cultivated with great ecological awareness and with a predominantly manual work. In fact Manfred Prüm makes a very moderate use of technical innovations, in the vineyard as in the cellar of which he personally takes care of, and he is more reliant to the prestigious tradition that has guaranteed so many excellent results. Prüm begins to harvest when others are finishing. Fermentations in steel with natural yeasts, at very low temperatures, which continue until January. No wood used to elevate the wines. The average yield is 60 hl / ha. Katharina & Manfred Prüm "In Germany nobody is able to imitate the finesse of JJ Prüm's wines," writes Gault Millau. An ineluctable elegance, the result of elective affinity between acidity, sweetness and spicy aromas. Wines that need a long aging, thus gaining an incredible richness and depth of aromas. But it is not a matter of formulas, Manfred Prüm, a lord of wines, says it in clear letters: "I do not care about the analysis and percentages, it is the taste that decides, so only the flavor counts." For years, rumors have been voiced about winemaking; In fact in the mysterious winery of Wehlen are not allowed visitors. Today the estate is led by the Manred and daughter Dr. Katharina Prüm. And their wines have an exceptional duration. It was advised to drink a "simple" Kabinett only after 4-5 years. And the aroma of "reduction" of some of his Riesling when they are just bottled, have a step back on those who have no time to understand the uniqueness of such wines.