Joh Jos Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2012

Katharina Prüm explains the Goldkapsel wines in this way: “Think of them as limited edition, small production lots of the best Auslese of a vintage. They are made from stronger, selected grapes containing more concentrated juice, usually affected by a certain amount of botrytis. They can age even remarkably longer than ‘basic’ Auslesen, lasting for many decades. Over time, they lose some of their sweetness, gain more and more elegance and harmony, and the complex profile and depth come to the forefront.” 

This museum release is one of the most impressive ausleses of the 2012 vintage. Aromas and flavours are lusciously ripe. An explosion of sweet fruit, honey and floral aromas. White peach and quince jelly flood the palate, ending with nervy acid and salts. Lingers endlessly.

Goldkapsel wines can work very well with desserts - ideally fruit-based dishes or crème caramel, typically nothing too sweet or chocolate-based. However, they are again better paired - especially with age - with robust, savoury food and especially cheese. With savoury dishes, you can throw anything at them, even very spicy dishes, red meat. These wines are far more versatile than most dry whites and certainly more so than all red wine styles.

Situated in the Mosel wine region, along the Mosel River in Germany. This region is renowned for producing some of the best Riesling wines in the world. Graacher Himmelreich directly borders the southern edge of the Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard. The wines from this site often challenge those from its more famous neighbour, especially in hot, dry years. Looking at the vineyard conditions, the hill faces slightly more westwards than the Wehlener Sonnenuhr, i.e. it has a more south-west exposure, it is a little less steep and has deeper soils which act as excellent water reservoirs.

It is impossible to describe JJ Prüm wines without mentioning the German Pradikatswein Wine Classifications that indicates the ripeness level of the Riesling grapes. Auslese Goldkapsel - While not strictly within the Pradikatswein Classifications, a producer may use a gold capsule or foil to denote a wine made with fruit that is of an even higher level of selection than the standard Auslese.

To put that into context, the lightest in the German Riesling spectrum is Kabinett (picked at full ripeness), moving on to Spatlese (Late Harvest), Auslese (Select Harvest), Auslese (Select Harvest) Goldkapsel, Auslese (Select Harvest) Lange Goldkapsel, Beerenauslese (Select Berry Harvest), and then the ripest being Trockenbeerenauslese picked as single berries that are almost raisinated by noble rot and selected by hand, further these berries are dried on straw mats further concentrating the sugars and flavour/aroma compounds. Generally speaking, the later the harvest, the longer the wine can live, so Spatlese is more age-worthy than Kabinett, Auslese more so than Spatlese, and so on.