2020 Joh Jos Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese

Wine is a kind of bottled energy and there is no producer that packs more voltage into their bottles than Joh. Jos. Prüm. The Prüm family history in the Mosel dates back as early as 1156, though it was Johann Josef Prüm (1873 - 1944) who founded the estate in 1911. Under Johann Josef’s son, Sebastian, by the mid-1930s the distinctive style of the Prüm wines had been forged. From 1969, the imitable Dr Manfred Prüm would take the reputation Joh. Jos. Prüm to even greater heights, and today the estate is run by Manfred’s daughter Katharina Prüm who watches over 13.5 precious hectares of vines perched on the vertiginous slate-rich slopes of the Middle Mosel. In The Wines of Germany, Stephen Brook writes “With the rise of so many excellent winemakers in the [Mosel], one might have supposed that Joh. Jos. Prüm, with its profound conservatism, might have been overtaken and left behind. Not a bit of it. The Estate remains where it has been for decades: at the summit.” So, what is the secret is to the quality of the J.J. Prüm wines? How is it that they differ so much in style and quality from the wines of most other Mosel producers? The answer, as always, lies mostly in the majesty of the vineyards (backed up by meticulous winemaking): great sites, old vines, the lowest yields, very late harvesting and selection of only the best berries.