TN: Joh Jos Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2003

First a comment: I always taste blind. I have a wonderful helpful wife and a stock of wine enough to make an intelligent guess impossible. Here is goes:

This is a wine easy to underestimate. Since I just took a glass the first day and the rest the second day this wine impresses a lot. The day after it is still harmonic and lively despite obvious signs of more oxidation. Its nice steely mineral character is fully integrated with the wine and with the strong botrytis creates a fine complex wine with a fruit with depth and balanced against all components. It is a both hard and soft wine where its hard minerals gives it structure and complexity while its ripe fruit soften and broadens it. A true top effort that gave result and a wine unjustified to try blind, this is the kind of wine that do better justice tried open.
16/20


Comments:
Extremely impressive for a 2003. I bow my hat to Prum and if one can make this kind of balanced wine 2003 one is a great winemaker. 17 points was considered.

Best
Fredrik Svensson, Luxembourg

I bought quite a number of these wines because the prices were so inexpensive given many peoples aversion to the 2003 vintage. It was great to read your tasting note, Fredrik. I usually try to keep Prum WS auslese's for at least 10 years from the vintage to give them a chance to integrate, but your note makes me want to try one. Jim

the prices were so inexpensive given many peoples aversion to the 2003 vintage...This is a wine easy to underestimate...

Vintage variation aside, Prum WS is one of the few wines that you never want to underestimate.

Fredrik,

It is so nice to see you posting here again. It must be two years or more since the last. Yours is a nice note, on a nice wine, from a not so nice vintage. Hope you stay around now, and if you get back to the states, that we get a chance to sip and sup with you again.

Bob

What kind words, thanks. I was a truly magnificent trip with soo nice tastings. It would be fantastic to get back again, specially now with the dollar so much more favorable! But, with three small children traveling long distances is not so easy. However, if you would come near here, near Mosel/Luxembourg, please make contact as it would be great meeting again.

I do plan to post more tasting notes as I taste more wines for please now, I don't want to post notes of professional origin. I am tasting a lot of Mosel wines, that is I drink Mosel wines 3-4 times a week so look out for more notes on Mosel wines.

Rahsaan has a very good point. With blind tasting it is always easy to underestimate a great wine as they need time to show their true potential. My solution for that is to give it a long time. I drink it blind over a full evening, only then, I think, can I stand up for a valid judgment.

Blind tasting is a great test of humility both for the wine and for the taster.

Best
Fredrik Svensson. Luxembourg

[David M. Bueker]

If there is anywhere that 2003 yielded truly solid (and potentially great) white wines it's in the middle Mosel at the auslese level. I've had far more than my fair share of fantastic 2003 auslesen, including Prum, Selbach-Oster and Willi Schaefer. Some of the "lesser" sites, like the Bernkasteler Badstube, produced amazing wines in that oddball year.

Thanks David for this little insight. I have seen such `03s up here and always passed up. Maybe I should get the shopping bag out!!