J.J. Prum: A study in 2001 Spatlesen

Over the past few weeks I have checked in some of my Prum 2001's. I went to Dovetail restaurant on the UWS and the meal was horrible. I had halibut that was hard as a brick and oxtail I needed a chainsaw to cut through, plus it was all salty. So glad I brought my own. I brought the 2001 J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese and thank god I did as that was about the only decent thing served to me, and I brought it! The wine was sublime. No sulfur, old barrel or yeast aromas. Just pure Mosel goodness. Slate and nice green-like fruit. Incredibly aromatic. The palate's first impression was ACID! Soon though the pieces came into place and this wine was classic Graach. Rocky and mineral with wonderful elegant finesse and perfect almost surreal balance. A touch of petrol on the nose began to come through but this was just starting to get into secondary land. In five more years it might be fully secondary. Graacher Himelreich from Prum I prefer in it's youth because it is accessible and also the wine that this vineyard yields, for me, performs better in its youth. Especially at Prum, but also at Schaefer and F. Weins Prum. The wine had a crunchy minerality and crunchy acid which is a result of Graach and a result of 2001. 2001 was the last vintage where you got true, real deal acidity. Bright, crunchy, tasty and attacks your mouth like a young Muscadet. No need to rush on this but think it is in an ideal place right now and even the Prums say the Graach is better young and that is where they prefer to drink it. It can age, but why as I find after a certain point it dulls and you dont get the energy you do when the wine is less than 15 years old.

I recently dined at a killer Korean restaurant in Littleneck called, well I don't remember, but it was fantastic. I brought a 2001 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese and it was very good yet very different than the Graacher Himmelreich. Creamy as Wehlener always is with a good acid backbone but it did not seem to get to the place yet where I like my WS Spatlese to be texturally. It demands at least 20-30 years of age to get there and longer for the Auslese. It had incredible balance but did not have that spherical quality you get on the palate with really great WS from Prum. It killed with all the food and had nice fruit, that was still all primary, no hint of petrol at all. The structure was impressive, as in 2001, even the small wines and QBA's had incredible structure. There was something missing and that will arrive, but only with age. A lovely wine but if you have any, hold off for ten more years.