A couple of Saterday sippers

[Redwinger]

2003 J J Prum, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Spatlese (AP17 04)

Oh my gawsh…what a disappointment. Clear light straw color, no hint of TCA, none of the sulphur/matchstick I usually get with younger Prums. The nose is full of promise with, citrus, melon and peach to suggest this is going to be tasty. Nope. There is just a tad of the “nose fruit” on the palate along with what I would describe as Spat level sweetness. That’s it folks! WTF are the acids? They are completely AWOL and without the acids to prop up the rest of the package and add excitement, the wine turns uninteresting/thin in a hurry. Geez, in general I like Prum’s wines, but this bottle was simply not very good. Others in the small group stood around, looked at each other and muttered WTF to no one in particular.

On a slightly different note. I’ve only tried 6 or 7 of the 2003 Rieslings from different producers…all have been Spats or Kab. From this admittedly small sample, the 2003s seem to be acid deficient to varying degrees. Is this a hallmark of the vintage? Or, do the higher pradikats deliver better acidity that the Spats and Kabs?

2003 Cimicky Trumps Shiraz

Another clunker. All oak, all the time. I don’t consider myself to be particularly oak adverse, but this is ridiculous. There might be some decent fruit lurking under the planks, but I’ll never know. This was painful to drink and ultimately was fed to the dumpster. Sigh.

[winebabe]

2003 was an exraordinarily ripe year in Germany as in the rest of Europe. As a rule, the vintage is exceedingly ripe and the initial complaint has been the lower acid levels found in the wines. With that being said, the comparisons are being made with the 1959 vintage, which shared similar climate, and went on to be considered one of the great vintages of the century. The wine is very young, and because of the ripeness, this wine may take some time to come around before it starts showing its stuff.

[Brad Ballinger]

Sorry, Bill. But that's what you get for pulling the cork about 15 years too early.

[Redwinger]

Sorry, Bill.  But that's what you get for pulling the cork about 15 years too early. 

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Brad,

Well at least 10 years too early . Fortunately, this Spat was opened by a local shop at a Saturday tasting. Nevertheless, I have reservations about this evolving into something nice.

In fact, after tasting the 2003 WS I ambled over to the racks and picked up a few more btls of the 2002 JJ Prum Graacher H. that were marked down a few $$.

Bill

[Brad Ballinger]

Sorry, Bill.  But that's what you get for pulling the cork about 15 years too early. 

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Brad,

Well at least 10 years too early . Fortunately, this Spat was opened by a local shop at a Saturday tasting. Nevertheless, I have reservations about this evolving into something nice.

In fact, after tasting the 2003 WS I ambled over to the racks and picked up a few more btls of the 2002 JJ Prum Graacher H. that were marked down a few $$.

Bill

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Good purchase decision IMO. I know that fat and flabby has been the knock on 2003 German wines. I personally haven't purchased any because I've seen te prices skyrocket both as a result of vintage hype and the weak U.S. dollar. But I have cases of the 2001s -- some bought here as a result of tasting events, and the rest bought when I was in Germany.

Your experience is a good one for the case of buy the wine not the vintage.