J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 2018
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
All the ripeness of this very warm vintage, married to wonderful freshness that gives this the light-footedness of a great dancer. Mostly white fruit, but just a hint of fresh pineapple. Long, silky finish. Drink or hold
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Wine Spectator
This has all of the elements of a great spätlese, with pronounced acidity supporting the ripe peach, yellow apple, mango and spruce flavors, while hints of vanilla and piecrust add to the complexity. Still a bit intense, but this should develop beautifully with age, allowing the minerality to become more prominent. Best from 2022 through 2038.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese is discreet yet deep and complex on the elegant and spicy nose that exhibits very fine stone fruit aromas. Round, lush and piquant on the palate, this is a crystalline, piquant, persistently salty and stimulating Himmelreich with fine tannins on the finish that add grip and a very light, food-friendly astringency that moderates away the sweetness. Still young, this is a Spätlese to serve with food in 10-15 years. Tasted at the domain in September 2020. Rating: 93+
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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.