J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 2020
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Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Very pale yellow, let’s call it, "Prüm yellow". Touch of stone fruit, some elder there. Pristine expression of fruit. Immediately showing great balance of sweetness and
acidity, a bit creamier than the Kabinett, lovely stone fruit, very elegant with that kick from the well known Graacher acidity. Good length with a bright and mouthwatering finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese offers a remarkably coolish, very bright, precise and delicate nose of very fine Riesling fruit and flinty slate aromas. Saline, perfectly round and refined on the palate, this is a filigreed but lush and oh-so-delicate and airy, virtually celestial Himmelreich with crystalline, highly delicate acidity. This is a pristine, light yet long and saline, incredibly frisky and elegant Mosel Spätlese whose clarity and finesse is mind-blowing. An incomparable beauty. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork.
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James Suckling
The concentrated and almost enveloping peach and apricot fruit, together with the racy acidity and the enormous herbal and mineral freshness, make this a dazzling Spatlese. Very pure finish, with a delicate note of floral honey, but only a hint of sweetness.
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Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.