J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Gold Capsule Riesling Auslese 2017
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Product Details
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Somm Note
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Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very attractive, spicy poached-pear notes to start, with a stream of slate really driving the nose, as well as wild herbs, especially spearmint, and honey. Very complex. The palate has a profound, concentrated core of rich lime and kumquat flavor and the acidity arcs upwards and really clams the fruit, wrapping it in tight. It then unleashes a thunderous mineral phase that blows long through the finish. Spectacular. Drink over the next two decades.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese (Gold Capsule), AP 15 18, is a highly attractive and refined Riesling with beautifully clear and aromatic fruit (yellow plums and nectarines at the moment) intermingled with fine flinty aromas of broken slate. This is the perfection of beauty and finesse, as it is so delicate, highly refined and elegant on the silky-textured and stimulatingly salty palate. If you love Prüm, this is the wine you would probably want to die with. It has the perfect balance of finesse yet is still highly digestible. You'll fall in love with this, no doubts at all.
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Wine Enthusiast
Subtle hints of white linen and honey introduce this intensely extracted, deeply penetrating auslese. Luscious tangerine, pineapple and stone-fruit flavors are forward and fruity but nuanced by layers of smoky minerals and spine-tingling acidity. It's a bold little wine that's stunning already but will improve for decades ahead.
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Wine Spectator
A beautifully sculpted and compelling sweetie, concentrated yet light-footed and defined by a lively structure, with bright acidity behind the intense flavors of dried apricot, clementine, violet walnut conserve and mineral. Displays terrific harmony, followed by an ethereal, marathon finish. Best from 2023 through 2043.
Other Vintages
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Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.