WINE ADVOCATE 93+ POINTS - Clear and smoky on the nose, with stone meal and citrus/grapefruit flavors, the 2014 Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Auslese (AP #17) is sweet and piquant on the palate, as well as nicely salty in the finish. There is still a lot of CO2 in the wine, but the mineral grip in the finish reveals its true character. There is very good phenolic structure, which results in a good grip. Stephan Reinhardt.
Dr Manfred Prum says, "2014 was a very expensive harvest. We made a brown harvest when we negative-selected all rotten grapes. We had to do a pre-selection because the maturity of the berries on one grape was not homogenous. Therefore, we picked the top vineyards rather late. We started the main harvest after ten days, since the acidity levels went down. So we accepted 20% to 25% of green grapes and 5% of noble rot. Towards the end of the harvest we picked the noble botrytis grapes, which was again a selection between rot and noble rot." The result of the 2014 harvest contains Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese Rieslings including the Gold Cap from the Graacher Himmelreich. There is no Auslese from the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr in 2014 "because there was simply no time to select it." A good Auslese has been picked in the old, steep part of the Bernkasteler Lay and there the Badstube a Spätlese and Auslese were selected. In Graach, there was more noble rot in 2014 and team JJ Prüm picked this vineyard at the latest.
WINE SPECTATOR - 93 POINTS - A suave and minerally style, with lively flavors of apple tart, lemon drop, white currant and cherry, backed by fresh acidity. Accents of sage show on the creamy, slightly honeyed finish. Best from 2018 through 2035. 100 cases imported.
Dr Manfred Prum says, "2014 was a very expensive harvest. We made a brown harvest when we negative-selected all rotten grapes. We had to do a pre-selection because the maturity of the berries on one grape was not homogenous. Therefore, we picked the top vineyards rather late. We started the main harvest after ten days, since the acidity levels went down. So we accepted 20% to 25% of green grapes and 5% of noble rot. Towards the end of the harvest we picked the noble botrytis grapes, which was again a selection between rot and noble rot." The result of the 2014 harvest contains Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese Rieslings including the Gold Cap from the Graacher Himmelreich. There is no Auslese from the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr in 2014 "because there was simply no time to select it." A good Auslese has been picked in the old, steep part of the Bernkasteler Lay and there the Badstube a Spätlese and Auslese were selected. In Graach, there was more noble rot in 2014 and team JJ Prüm picked this vineyard at the latest.
WINE SPECTATOR - 93 POINTS - A suave and minerally style, with lively flavors of apple tart, lemon drop, white currant and cherry, backed by fresh acidity. Accents of sage show on the creamy, slightly honeyed finish. Best from 2018 through 2035. 100 cases imported.