Studert-Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 2012
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The Riesling grapes for this Spätlese are from the famous Sonnenuhr vineyard. The location is dominated by slate rocks, which gives the wines a beautiful minerality and elegance. The 2012 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese opens with a beautiful herbal fragrance, combined with the typical Riesling aromas of citrus fruits and peach, accompanied by a fairly cool and mineral impression. A clear and polished fruit spreads across the palate with a lively acidity typical of the Riesling grape. This fine wine is made in a Mosel-typical elegant style, very harmonious and with a good finish.
This historic Mosel producer, situated Wehlen, makes some of the most sought after and collectible Rieslings on the planet. With wines made in various styles and degrees of sweetness, the underlying philosophies at Studert-Prum aim to preserve the vitality and energy of the raw materials, carefully stewarding wines from grapes to juice to bottle.
Meticulous selection following harvest ensures that every wine carrying this noble name on the label offers a clean, precise and age-worthy introduction to the Riesling grape and Mosel terroir. Under the watchful eye of 12 generations, the vineyards farmed by this family winery today proudly boast more than 80% of vines planted to original rootstock – a prime factor contributing to the complexity, intensity and minerality of these extraordinary vinous treasures.
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.