Joh. Jos. Prum Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett 2021

Joh. Jos. Prüm is one of the Mosel's most revered and stylistically conservative estates — the Prüm family story dates back to 1156, with Johann Josef Prüm founding the modern estate in 1911; from 1969 Dr. Manfred Prüm elevated the house to even greater heights, and today his daughter Katharina Prüm watches over 13.5 hectares on the slate-rich slopes of the Middle Mosel. Stephen Brook wrote in The Wines of Germany that with the rise of so many excellent Mosel winemakers, one might suppose J.J. Prüm could be overtaken — not a bit of it; the estate remains, as it has for decades, at the summit. Bernkasteler Badstube borders Graacher Himmelreich on its southern edge, with a marginally shallower gradient and deeper soils than the Graacher and Wehlener sites, while its western orientation grants the vines longer exposure to the afternoon sun — conditions that typically produce a wonderfully floral, delicate and mineral wine, slightly lighter in structure and weight than its more famous siblings, but wonderfully racy. 

Brilliant straw-yellow in the glass, the bouquet offers a seductive aroma of ripe peaches, citrus notes and an undertone of mineral tones characteristic of the Mosel's slate soils. Superbly elegant and refined, with white flowers, laurel, thyme, fresh almond, cassis, lime tree and fine spices — airy and beautifully light-footed on the palate, leaving a beautiful, mouth-watering, long and pure finish, with the aftertaste already lightly off-dry. An aromatic bouquet of fully ripe fruit and crushed stones, round and mouth-filling on the palate — a hedonistic Kabinett with very fine, mineral acidity, almost a dessert on its own.