2020 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese Mosel

The 2020 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese offers a remarkably coolish, very bright, precise and delicate nose of very fine Riesling fruit and flinty slate aromas. Saline, perfectly round and refined on the palate, this is a filigreed but lush and oh-so-delicate and airy, virtually celestial Himmelreich with crystalline, highly delicate acidity. This is a pristine, light yet long and saline, incredibly frisky and elegant Mosel Spätlese whose clarity and finesse is mind-blowing. An incomparable beauty. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 02 22 in July 2022. Prüm's 2020s are without exception narrative Rieslings, shaped by their respective origins, which to taste always means pleasure and even relaxation but never real work. It will certainly not be easy for the 2021s to outdo the partly grandiose 2020s once these show fascinating clarity, finesse and elegance. Even Dr. Manfred Prüm, probably not a man of praise, had to admit at the end, "That was a highly enjoyable wine tasting; that's how I like it!" He wanted to explicitly praise his daughter Katharina for the 2020 vintage, but at the subsequent lunch he preferred to devote himself and us to two wines from the archive. Thank goodness Prüm wines speak for themselves anyway, so who needs praise? (SR)