2008 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett

Pungent suggestions of thyme and lavender join more typical apple blossom and heliotrope, apple and vanilla in the nose of the Joh. Jos. Prum 2008 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett. There is a bit of a veil of CO2, yeast, and sulfur shrouding the nose here – not at all uncommon in youthful Prum wines, but little evidenced in this year’s other Kabinett bottlings at the time I tasted them – however it detracts only slightly from the pleasure of the wine’s aromatic complexity. The palate here suggests a near-weightless yet intense floral distillation underlain by vivid wet stone. A classic youthful example of Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett, it will blossom short term as it emerges from its fermentative funk, not to mention over the next 20-25 years, though right now the corresponding Bernkasteler and Graacher are more refreshing and dynamic. ||The Prums compare 2008 with 2004 and as such consider it a classic Spatlese year, with thankfully with more wine in the Kabinett range that this estate has seen in many years. And if you remain unconvinced after tasting the present collection that residually sweet Kabinett Riesling is capable not only of reflecting the full potential of great Mosel vineyard sites but also capable of profundity and greatness per se, then you never will be. The above having been noted, the range of Auslesen here this year, while small, is extraordinary. The 2008 collection also includes January, 2009 Eiswein from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Graacher Himmelreich which I did not taste. As in past reports, it should be noted that while there are multiple bottlings of Prum Kabinetts or Spatlesen from a given vineyard in any given vintage, the estate is at pains to insist that the differences are minimal, and I am not privy to the A.P. #s of most non-auction bottlings that I taste there, nor would I pretend to the ability to unerringly match a wine sampled later from a labeled bottle with the specific lot I had tasted previously at the estate.||Various importers including: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. 918 622 0424 and Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA 800 596 9463 Wine Advocate.February, 2010