Joh Jos Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 2015

A great spätlese that is really ripe, but still vibrant, elegant and subtle. Sensational interplay of all the components that make this a very classic example of this category. This has a personality all of its own (something floral that's unusual for this site). (6/2017)

This was the first – among very few – wines in the 2015 Prüm lineup to lead with a bit of yeasty fermentative “Mosel stink,” but that veil soon parted more than sufficiently to showcase an alliance of ripe honeydew melon with cassis, grapefruit, and hints of cress and lemon peel that subsequently lend incisive, piquant invigoration on a delicate, polished, infectiously juicy palate. Penetrating and sharply focused, but without its efficacious and enlivening acids turning at all aggressive, the tinglingly, refreshingly citric yet soothing and cooling finish serves up a shimmering array of stony, smoky, alkaline and crystalline nuances. (DS) (9/2016)

Prüm's 2015 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese is clear, intense and flinty on the nose, very precise but well concentrated; however, it is the most reductive of the Spätlese quartet. Round and piquant, with a stimulating fruit and salinity, this is a very well-defined, crystalline and straight Spätlese of great finesse and elegance. It needs five years or so to unfold all its talents, but it can surely age for 20 or 30 years.

Dense, concentrated fruit with still very sharp definition. Ultra-HD Riesling. What intensity! Plenty of sugar but the acid has it surrounded. 17.5/20 points (RH) (10/2022)