2017 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese
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Tasting notes
The nose on a just-opened bottle was shrouded in yeasty and faintly stinky fermentative aromas, though beneath those emerged anticipations of what awaits on a glossy, creamy palate: quince and white peach preserves laced with grapefruit and lemon. A bottle that had been open for six days, while it harbored a reductive hint of pork rind, was effusively fruity from the first whiff, and full of freshness. The ultra-buoyant finish deftly combines richness with brightness and transparency to stony underpinnings.
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James Suckling
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Minerally? How about an entire grotto of stalagmites and stalactites. This is like looking into a glacier cave and taking in the crystalline air. Incredibly chalky precision and sleek minerality, all beneath a raging sea of sweetness and acidity, whose glimmering surface belies the depth and savagery of this wine. Drink now or hold.
The 2017 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese is coolish, bright and fresh on the still-reductive but attractive nose with its fine Riesling and slate aromas. The wine is salty-piquant and terribly fresh on the palate, with very fine Riesling and crispy-salty slate expressions. This Auslese is highly refined, crystalline and more intellectual compared to the Badstube, but hedonists would take it as well. A gorgeous, highly digestible Auslese. Tasted in March 2019.
About the producer
Joh. Jos. Prüm is the benchmark estate of the Middle Mosel, renowned for Rieslings of exceptional delicacy, precision, and longevity. From the legendary slopes of Wehlener Sonnenuhr to Graacher Himmelreich, their wines capture a singular balance of lightness, tension and mineral purity.