JJ Prüm and the Art of Mosel Riesling

Raymond Blake considers JJ Prum wines the pinnacle of Mosel Rieslings and uses five mini-flights of two wines each to substantiate his view

Others may cavil but whenever my mind drifts to Germany, specifically Moselwards, and I start to draw up an all time list of favourite producers, three names always spring immediately to mind: Egon Müller, Maximin Grünhaus and JJ Prüm. In truth, there are many other worthy claimants to inclusion in the first division but plentiful exposure to this trio’s wines over several decades has convinced me of their enduring splendour.

It is over 20 years since I first visited the Mosel, though it was not until a subsequent visit in 2009 that I arrived at Prüm’s door to sample their wines of filigree delight that enchant wine lovers across the globe. That visit remains etched in the memory, courtesy of an unfolding spiral of delicate flavours that challenged the tasting lexicon to capture them in mere words. What is it about supreme Mosel Riesling that elevates it to the very summit of vinous magnificence? I penned my best attempt at an answer a few years later: “Riesling is Germany’s signature grape and it achieves excellence in many of her wine regions while in one it produces featherweight wines of transcendent beauty. They are as puzzling as they are satisfying, for it remains a mystery that something so delicate can still have the intensity and durability of a polished diamond. These are ballet dancers made wine. They hail from the Mosel, source of nectar to the cognoscenti but largely ignored by mainstream consumers. Such a situation seems inexplicable, though its parallel in the world of literature sheds light. Mosel Riesling is the poetry of the wine world; great poetry is the summit of literature but that does not convey popularity. We stick to prose, more easily accessed and understood.”

Poetry indeed. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the Prüm wines at a tasting in Ireland, conducted by Carine Patricio who, though not a member of the family, could hardly be bettered as a Prüm ambassador. A full house, without a seat to spare, was indicative of great interest among sommeliers, wine scribes and the like but the perennial problem is how to translate that enthusiasm into consumer interest. Long memories of flower-water-dressed-as-wine Liebfraumilch still need to be erased before these Mosel jewels are accorded top billing by wine drinkers in general and not just a select band of aficionados.

What is initially needed is some “palate recalibration’. Taste buds more used to, for instance, heavy calibre Chardonnays suffused with oak and tropical fruit flavours, must be encouraged to look for nuance and detail; there is no ‘botox’ in these wines, no embellishment or baroque adornments to the flavours, just deceptive purity and elegance. Thus, hearty adjectives have no place in a tasting note for a wine sporting a mere 7% alcohol – half the strength of many wines on the market today. Perhaps that will be their trump card.

Perhaps fate is moving their way because — as the world becomes ever more obsessed with the dangers of over-consumption, and officially recommended levels of safe drinking continue to fall — perhaps these filigree wines are about to have their day. They have never aligned more closely with the wine world’s zeitgeist than they do now. At a stroke one could halve one’s alcohol consumption while still drinking the same quantity of wine. What’s not to like?

There were no disappointing wines in this tasting, though some shone brighter than others. Both 2003s were very much children of the vintage, the heat of the growing season reflected in a certain warmth in the wines and a consequent lack of the definition of flavour with which these Rieslings are usually associated. In similar, though opposite, fashion the pair of 2021s carried the stamp of that cool vintage, in this case it acted as a positive, amplifying the intense spine of acidity that is Riesling’s signature, where the 2003 vintage tended to obscure it. As I said above, perhaps fate is moving their way. If so, it cannot move too quickly.

A Word of Advice
No matter how appealing these wines are in youth, it is only with age that they show the full panoply of flavours of which they are capable, gaining depth and conviction without ever losing their signature delicacy. Personally, I keep them for longer than most authorities recommend: I think nothing of a decade for a Kabinett, longer for a Spätlese and longer again for an Auslese. After that, if you are lucky enough to have some Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) in your cellar then you can take it that, properly stored, they are almost ageless.

For all the styles, development and maturity come by way of a deepening of colour and flavour, with a greater textural quality asserting itself as the years, even decades, pass. Eventually, the top wines sport a honeygold colour and deliver glorious flavours of caramelised orange peel shot through with brighter notes of acidity.

And the 64-thousand-dollar crucial question ….
Which wines did I buy? After much cogitation (and a raid on the piggybank) I settled on the two 2021s – the Bernkasteler Badstube Kabinett and the Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett. In both I noted a delicious grapefruit-like purity, arresting though not overwhelming. Today, it is the defining signature of each wine, but both are now buried deep in my cellar, the intention being to broach the first bottles when they reach their 10th birthdays. By then, I expect the acidity to be joined by a touch of opulence, with no hint of richness. Watch this space.