2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 12

Real lift and race with some lemon notes but basically just so filigree and delicate and pure. A miracle that such butterfly weight can be maintained with no excess of acid nor deficit of flavour. Brava again! (JR)

The auction lot of Prum 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese A.P. #22 differs from the “regular” Auslese in a manner analogous to the relationship between the two corresponding Spatlesen, the most striking aspect of the present cuvee being its uncanny sense of near-weightless delicacy. “This came from a good but not absolutely top-class parcel,” notes Manfred Prum, “but one that got quite a bit of botrytis which we permitted to develop and then selected-out very late.” Given that description, one has to say this was the noblest of rot, so subtle and positive was the flavor concentration and creamy textural allure it engendered, while in no way freighting the wine or lending a taste of botrytis per se. Indeed, this strikes me as the finer of the two non-gold capsule Sonnenuhr Auslesen I tasted, incorporating underlying nut paste richness and a cloud-like sense of wafting sweet floral perfume. Furthermore, this introduces a salinity that renders the finish saliva-inducing and compulsively swallow-able. It should dazzle for 30-40 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