“Few estates in the world can claim to have maintained the highest standards uninterrupted for half a century or more… J J Prüm is one estate that can” (Stuart Pigott – The Wine Atlas of Germany).

Dr Manfred Prüm has been in charge of his grandfather’s 14 hectare estate for the past 37 years, continuing to produce the most superlative Rieslings. Based in Wehlen, overlooking the Mosel and the breathtaking vineyards of Sonnenuhr, Manfred has lost none of his passion or his feel for the world’s most neglected grape variety. He is now assisted by his eloquent eldest daughter, Katarina, who followed her father’s route to wine by first studying law. Their wines are very long-lived and often a little difficult in the first a year or two post bottling. But as they start to blossom they become beguiling.

Manfred’s main holding is in the Sonnenuhr, which lies in the heart of the longest stretch of vineyards in Europe, between Berncastel and Zeltingen. As Pigott explains ‘ the site of Wehlener Sonnenuhr, in top vintages, yields the richest, silkiest, most seductive wines on the Mosel…and is inextricably linked with the estate of J J Prüm, whose late-harvest Auslese and higher quality Prädikat wines are perhaps the most elegant dessert wines in the world”. It’s worth mentioning at this point, that, pricewise, these dessert wines run Egon Müller’s very, very close at the annual VDP auction in Trier and are highly prized and highly sought after.

Manfred also has vines in Graacher Himmelreich which tend to produce slightly lighter, more delicate wines that can be drunk a little earlier than those from the Sonnenuhr. The Sonnenuhr Rieslings have great weight yet their natural vibrant acidity and minerality lifts them like an eagle on the breeze. When young they show some yeast and natural sulphur but after about five years they begin to unfold and their complexity can be mind blowing. Make no mistake this is a source of great Riesling.