WTN: 2012 Prüm Kab

(Can't honestly label this Beat the Heat -- it's been in the 70s for the last 4-5 days and for the foreseeable future) To celebrate a quite momentous research result tonight, I opened a bottle of the 2012 JJ Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett AP 2 576 511 13 13 to go with some takeout Indian food (saag chole, yellow daal and lamb vindaloo). Absolutely a point with no trace of what I am sure was the considerable sulfur treatment, juicy peach/lime fruit, racy acidity, great midpalate depth and a touch of petrol. All in all, a most lovely package.

[David M. Bueker]

Nice one!

FWIW, Prüm has greatly reduced the sulfur since the daughter took over the lead on winemaking. First noticed it with 2006, and asked her about it. She said she hated the sulfur smell. Now the overt sponti notes are another thing!

By sponti do you mean rotten egg-type odors (H2S)?

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

No. It’s more complicated than that, and FWIW I have never, ever agreed that the rotten egg smell was there. Ever.

I love 2012 Mosel.
Sponti doesn't show rotten eggs to me, more gunflint/smoke

This is the first time I've heard the term sponti. When I googled it I found people talking about eggs. Gunflint/smoke says to me something to do with SO2, not H2S. I've never detected any H2S aromas in Prüm wines but I often find SO2 aromas when the wine is young. I assume you're not talking about the smell of SO2 itself, but of something resulting from wild yeasts having metabolized SO2. The human nose is extremely adept at detecting sulfur compounds, especially mercaptans, at even a parts-per-billion concentration.

-Paul W.

This is the first time I've heard the term sponti. When I googled it I found people talking about eggs. Gunflint/smoke says to me something to do with SO2, not H2S. I've never detected any H2S aromas in Prüm wines but I often find SO2 aromas when the wine is young. I assume you're not talking about the smell of SO2 itself, but of something resulting from wild yeasts having metabolized SO2. The human nose is extremely adept at detecting sulfur compounds, especially mercaptans, at even a parts-per-billion concentration.

Certainly in earlier vintages of Prüm, before a change in the winemaking, there was plenty of SO2 in the young wines which manifested as smells of burnt matches. Sponti stink is different yet again, though. FWIW, Lars Carlsberg has written on the topic:
Carlsberg on stinky Prüm.

[David M. Bueker]

Prüm has also had some reduction issues from time to time (as has Grünhaus). Combine that with too much sulfur and the byproducts of spontaneous fermentation and you could sometimes come up against an impenetrable wall of stink!

Thanks for the pointer to Lars Carlsen's article. Now I know what you're all talking about.

-Paul W.