WTN: 1997 Prüm WS Kabinett

1997 JJ Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett
Plenty of the lovely ethereal delicate elegance I expect from the Prüm WS, but for the most part this is in a somewhat awkward stage for me to get too excited. The juicy young fruit is gone and the souring finish is not picking up any complexity or significant textural tension. Didn't complain about knocking back several glasses but should I be expecting a future upside from such a 97 kabinett?

[David M. Bueker]

This is a wine that troubles me. I had a bottle about a year ago & awkward is how I thought of it as well. An 11 year old kabinett, even from Prum, should be showing what it's made of, and this wasn't.

Frankly there are better vintages of this wine out there waiting for us to buy them. The 2002 was recently very good, and the 2004 showed more promise still.

This is a wine that troubles me. I had a bottle about a year ago & awkward is how I thought of it as well. An 11 year old kabinett, even from Prum, should be showing what it's made of, and this wasn't..

Ok, thanks. Makes sense.

And (as you mentioned in relation to 2007) I guess it wouldn't be fair to expect every single bottling every year to be at the same superior level.

[David M. Bueker]

Different vintages show us different things. '97 was really the first of the global warming vintages, as the acids were quite low, and I think winemakers adapted better in once we passed the millenium (I'm not confident in the '99s either).

1997 JJ Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett
somewhat awkward stage for me to get too excited

If you want to drink a Kabinett level Prüm of this vintage you need to go for the Spätlese.

[David M. Bueker]

If you want to drink a Kabinett level Prüm of this vintage you need to go for the Spätlese.

I'm not sure what you mean Dieter. Perhaps compared to 2005 or other recent vitnages, but the 1997 was more of a classical kabinett (just not one with a future in my opinion).

I thought that I had one of these sleeping (the 35 98), so I did some digging. The search was successful and I popped the cork for tonight's dinner. I found it fairly enjoyable with an acute, slightly sour, finish that cut nicely through the Thai food. Not too sweet, not too fruity with a nice body. Well worth the $12.00 that I paid for it.

The importer stuck a VDP sticker on the bottle; I'm not sure what that means.

[David M. Bueker]

Which importer? Prum is not one for auctioning kabinett.

David,

Rudi Wiest/Cellars International Inc Carlsbad.

Neck label says it is an ILNA Selection from the "VDP".

We are just finishing it up and it was pretty good.

[David M. Bueker]

Ah - I know those stickers. They're meaningless.

Yeah, I figured that you would know. I thought that the auction bottles were usually marked by a small round sticker.