WTN: 2002 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese

Also posted on another board.

This Mosel wine had A.P. Nr. 2 576 511 8 03
7.5% alcohol
This wine is so refreshing and gulpable that that is just what I did with the first 3-oz. pour. I gulped it down without taking any notes on color or nose. Paired nicely with boneless, skinless chicken breast in a glaze of honey, balsamic vinegar and basil. The second glass later in the evening was sipped more delicately with the resulting impressions:
Medium to dark straw color, depending on the lighting and very spritzig. Nose of lemon and white peaches.
Sweet peach on the palate with balanced acidity. Underlying lemon and grapefruit notes. Medium to long finish. Quite delightful.
Can be found on wine-searcher.com for $28 to $37 a bottle.

Darn it Jane.
I have to leave tomorrow to p;ick up Beth, and I already opened tonights wine, but I have three of these down in the cellar. Oh well, I guess it can wait until Beth gets back.
Hope you can make it to MoCOOL this year.
Hope there is a MoCOOL this year.

Hope there is a MoCOOL this year.

OW, there will be a Mo'Cool this year, I have it on good authority!

Fabulous, Bob.

Thanks for the note. I tried the 04 version of this wine recently and thought it was great, lots of primary fruit, balanced acidity but with a fantastic weightlessness that great MSR rieslings can have.

Best,

Just a word of caution: Not all Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese from Prüm are open for business.

The AP 08 03 has been easy going from the start. However, the more commonly distributed AP 28 03 is quite tight and requires a few more years.

I'm thinking of opening a JJ Prum 1999 Auslese this week to compare to the younger spatlese I just had. Any word on how the '99 Auslese is drinking?

[David M. Bueker]

I'm thinking of opening a JJ Prum 1999 Auslese this week to compare to the younger spatlese I just had. Any word on how the '99 Auslese is drinking?

No! No! Don't do it!

The '99s will be so nice if you just give them the time. A few kabinetts are starting to get good, and the very rare spatlese is coming out of its shell, but please leave the auslese alone. Put the auslese down, and walk away with your hands where I can see them.

Wait until that baby reaches its 10th birthday some time in fall 2009.

Ok, you convinced me David. I save a few bottles of wines I have particularly enjoyed and noticed the other day an empty bottle of a sibling of the Auslese I was thinking about opening this week. So I have already committed infanticide with one bottle. (And the shame is that I don't buy by the case--probably only had two or three bottles of this to begin with.)
I will mark it down for 2009--maybe on my birthday that year.

Just a word of caution: Not all Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese from Prüm are open for business.

The AP 08 03 has been easy going from the start. However, the more commonly distributed AP 28 03 is quite tight and requires a few more years.

Jean - are you referring to the 2002 or the 04 Spatlese being closed?

Must be refering to the 2002. The 03 in the A.P. number refers to the year of bottling I believe--grapes harvested in '02, bottled in '03. The post indicates that the 2002 I enjoyed has been easy going from the start but another Prum bottling from 2002 is tight and needs more time.

Thanks Jane.

I never did understand those numbers. The 04 I thought was great and quite drinkable last week.

I remember one posting (I think from Thor) where I asked what vintage and he said he included the A.P# so we could figure it out ourselves. I still don't know all the significance of the numbers. Maybe David Bueker will give us a quick synopsis. Please, David.

I remember one posting (I think from Thor) where I asked what vintage and he said he included the A.P# so we could figure it out ourselves. I still don't know all the significance of the numbers. Maybe David Bueker will give us a quick synopsis. Please, David.

From what I understand it's the last two sets of numbers that are most important for us, so when he says the 08 03 is drinking better than the 28 03, you know that the last two numbers (03) refer to the fact that the wine was bottled in 2003, (i.e. it's 2002 vintage), and the 08 and 28 refer to different cuvees.

Thanks Rahsaan. That was my understanding but I was not certain.

Ok, you convinced me David. I save a fewI will mark it down for 2009--maybe on my birthday that year.

Jane, will this be your 35th? Happy B-Day in advance!

[David M. Bueker]

Most of the AP number is useless information that includes the number of the testing center where the wine was approved, the producer (though I have never seen a cross reference list, so what good is that) and a sub-regional designator for the producer. Indeed it is only the last 4 or 5 numbers that matter: 02-34 means the wine was the 34th wine registered by that producer in 2002. Some producers makes enough different wines to occasionally have AP numbers like 03-107. I've seen this happen in the past the Kesselstatt which used to make a staggering number of different wines.

David,
Absolutely correct - if I may just add two comments:

- the four/five last digits numbers are usually written the other way around, i.e. 137 04 (meaning the 137th wine declaration made by this registered winery/winemaker in 2004)

- the fact that the two last digits are 04 does not imply that the wine is from the 2003 vintage. It just refers to the year the wine was put for approval to the testing center. For instance, there is an 1982 JJ Prüm goldkap with a 00 number. This means that Manfred Prüm kept the wine "untested" in his cellar until the year 2000.

The marvels of German efficiency!

[David M. Bueker]

Oops...that'll get me for posting whne I am in a hurry. I knew that. Don't know how it came out backwards.

Hi David
There is one AP number in a TWA a couple of years ago which says something like AP 12 34.
Now this is en primeur tasting!

[David M. Bueker]

Hi David
There is one AP number in a TWA a couple of years ago which says something like AP 12 34.
Now this is en primeur tasting!

That was a Catoir wine and Pierre Rovani interpreted the Catoir "lot" number as an AP number.

Just his usual level of incompetence.

OW, there will be a Mo'Cool this year, I have it on good authority!

With NiagaraCOOL in early June I may make MOCOOL this year myself. I only made the Friday night get-together in '04, so it would be nice to do the whole weekend.

With NiagaraCOOL in early June I may make MOCOOL this year myself. I only made the Friday night get-together in '04, so it would be nice to do the whole weekend.

And it would be especially nice for us if you are able to do that, Howie.