WTN: Tasting through Wehlener Sonnenuhr & Urziger Wurzgarten

Blind tasting at David Bueker's home - David opened a fantastic lineup of middle Mosel Riesling from his cellar that he served blind for everyone else. A very fun and eye-opening evening with good company, some old friends and some nice cheeses and salami on the side. My blind tasting skills were horrible as I kept stabbing around various Mosel producers and vineyards with very little success, but it was a great evening with some lovely wines in good company.

Wines were served in pairs (aside from the warmup and dessert wine), and everything was unveiled at the end of the night.

Warm up wine
Really refreshing and elegant with fresh green apple and pear fruit accented with cooling herbal elements and a developing smokiness. Comes across with a true Kabinett lightness of touch, with lovely acidity keeping it very delicate, precise and refreshing. Revealed as the 1999 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett.

Wine 1
Drinking very nicely right now with some gentle red fruited notes, lemon cream and a moderate, understated sweetness. There's a pleasant creamy aspect on the back end and really nice acidity. Lovely. Revealed as the 1998 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese .

Wine 2
Quite uninteresting with bright lime and grapefruit flavours and a little emerging smokiness but this lacks the depth of the other wines in the flight, not showing the same sense of precision, complexity or elegance. I'm a lot more impressed when this is revealed as the 2000 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese; in the context of the vintage, it's quite impressive.

Wine 3
Aromatically mute at first, showing shy scents of pale Mosel fruit that give no indication to what's ahead in the mouth, where it's full of exuberant rich citrus and red fruited flavours over a base of slate. There's tremendous richness here, but it feels incredibly light on its feet with fantastic acidity and impeccable balance. Delicious! Unveiled as the 2001 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese.

Wine 4
Also quite aromatically mute, but like wine 3 this is much more expressive in the mouth with fresh primary Mosel fruit and slate. The flavours aren't as exuberant and lively as the '01 in the mouth, but the whole package is still quite elegant and very tasty. This is the 2004 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese.

Wine 5
Pretty much in its ideal spot. Gorgeous aromatics that combine a spectrum of ripe fruit and tarter citrus with floral and honeyed aspects, a gentle minerality and developed smoky and creamy elements into one amazing scent. Tastes just as good as it smells with fantastic depth, a sense of restrained power and grace and fantastic length. Wow! Unveiled as the 1995 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 3-star, my/group's wine of the night by some distance.

Wine 6
Very elegant, classical Auslese (close to a modern Spätlese in style) that perhaps suffered a little bit trying to follow the stunning '95. There's plenty of fresh, pure fruit and minerality here with the start of developing creamy and fusel elements, but this comes across a little quiet and simple poured alongside the '95. This is the 1998 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese one-star.

Wine 7
Reeks of sulfur to start. David said he had quadruple-decanted this a few hours before serving (!!), and it still smells like Dante's Inferno in a glass. Very tasty though with bright apple, pear and other white fruited flavours over a bed of slate, and nice acidity keeping it fresh and vibrant throughout. Perhaps a touch light on the back end, but still very pretty and elegant. Was thinking this might either be a Schloss Lieser GKA (Thomas Haag doesn't hold back on sulfur) or a Prum, guessed the former but it turned out to be the 2002 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese.

Wine 8
Comes across as a pretty typical modern Auslese; full of ripe melony and white fruited flavours with gentle floral and mineral accents and a sweet honeyed character to the fruit flavours. Quite surprised when this was unveiled as the 2006 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese one-star, as this feels remarkably light and clear for an '06 with the botrytis and sweetness not as intense as I'd expect and a nice sense of freshness to the flavours.

Dessert
First impression is surprisingly Muskateller-like, with wild floral and mandarin orange aromas accompanied by the standard botrytis honey and spice. With time the flavours get wilder and more exotic as rose petal, lychee and other tropical fruit flavours emerge; this remains incredibly sweet and rich but has just enough acidity to keep the sweetness from being overwhelming. First guessed Muskateller, then Gewurztraminer on this - wrong on both counts, it's the 2007 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Fronhof Scheurebe Beerenauslese. Incredibly fun wine, and absolutely delicious - Darting always seems to deliver with his sweet wines.

A very fun evening, thanks again David for your hospitality and generosity!

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for joining us, and for putting up notes Salil. I was rather busy with hosting duties, and so did not take notes for myself.

Of course I had the benefit of tasting all of the wines (except hte Darting) as I was checking for cork taint (and indeed rejected a bottle of 2000 Kerpen Auslese** for re-fermentation!), but I was more impressed with the 2000 Christoffel than even you were, as I had not expected the level of brightness/lightness of touch from a wine of that vintage.

The mute aromatics of the 2001 and 2004 Christoffels disappointed me, but they certainly brought the fireworks to the palate.

The '95 Kerpen was my wine of the night as well, mainly due to how it had melded into a seamless whole. There wasn't anything at all that seemed out of place/in need of time. There was even a hint of sugar on the palate, even though the wine clearly still has meaningful residual sugar. Magic!

Both Prums reeked of sulfur to my nose, though the '99 Kabinett cleared up quickly. The '02 Auslese could scare even the most hardened sinner into seeking salvation.

As for the Darting Scheurebe - it was kinky, and if it had been graced with just a drop more acid it would have been my top wine of the evening. So it is with Scheurebe - the grape should have been endorsed by Rick James.

This infamous sulfur note in JJ Prum . . . . does it eventually subside on its own in bottle, or do they always need some time for it to blow off?

Ryan,

I always give the Prum wines about 15 minutes in a decanter. By that time the sulfur is gone. Although it is not a wholely unpleasant sulfur to begin with - more a match stick note in my opinion.

[David M. Bueker]

Ryan,

I always give the Prum wines about 15 minutes in a decanter. By that time the sulfur is gone.

My mileage varies. I usually need several hours of decant time. I did not have that kind of time last night due to the '02 Prum Auslese being a last minute fill in, so I splash decanted 3 times then put it back in the bottle (thus quadruple decanting). There was still intense sulfurtwo hours later (and I left the bottle uncorked). This is pretty much my experience with Prum.

David,

Some time ago I did have a '99 Prum Spat. with persistent sulfur. It may have been you that told the vintage was known for that. Other than that experience, I've always had good luck getting the Prum sulfur to dissipate quickly.

Thanks for posting this. Sounds like fun and these are among my favorite vineyards. And I have a couple of the 2000s.