2009 Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett

This 2009 Kabinett has just reached the stage when a mildly herbaceous aroma of spontaneous fermentation creates the perfect foil for a gentle stone-fruit fragrance. A very delicate flinty scent adds further interest. The most tastefully exercised restraint in terms of residual sugar allows minerality to assert itself in an expression reminiscent of slate dust. Substance and length of this almost off-dry Himmelreich put it way beyond your common-or-garden Kabinett sweetie. (MS)

Very pure and racy with great extract and raciness. Just a bit of crunch and grain. But very correct and pure. And less obvious ‘sulphur’ than in the past. (JR)

The Prum 2009 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett features grapefruit and cassis with the bitterness of grapefruit rind as well as hints of stone and salt offering counterpoint. This displays marginally less juiciness (especially in its finish) or sense of lift than the corresponding Badstube or Sonnenuhr Kabinetts, but still refreshing, satisfyingly ripe, and well-balanced. Manfred Prum opines that this is suffering more from bottling than most of his other young 2009s, pointing out that usually Himmelreich is earliest to recover. I would expect this wine to follow a strong track record and thrive for at least 12-15 years. The Prums noted that their 2009s (harvested from mid-October to mid-November) were unusually expressive at a young age – even in September when I tasted, little more than a month after most of them were bottled – in that respect contrasting decisively, they thought, with the recalcitrant 2008s. (That’s their opinion, please note. My own enthusiastic account of their young 2008s in issue 187 testifies to my belief that those wines were themselves testifying eloquently, even though in general 2008s were said by their growers to be slow to open.) “Although the acids are very ripe,” notes Manfred Prum of his 2009s – drawing parallels with 1997 – “they are also very present.” This latest collection tops out with Eiswein from both Bernkastel and Graach (which makes two from the Himmelreich in one year, since the 2008 was picked in January, 2009) and a B.A. (or – depending on how it evolves – it may be labeled as T.B.A.) from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr, none of which I have tasted. (In keeping with past practice, I am not normally privy to the A.P.#s of every wine I taste from this collection, and the Prums remain anxious to assure me and my readers that whenever more than one lot of the same name in Kabinett or non-auction Spatlese range is bottled care is exercised to see that the differences will be minimal. In the case of Auslesen, I have however confirmed and included A.P.#s in any instances of two otherwise eponymous wines.) Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. 918 622 0424 and Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA tel. 800 596 9463