The 2018 release of Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Gold Kapsel was made from shrivelled instead of botrytised fruit, and was then fermented down to noble-sweet levels of residual sugar. This wine has all the hallmarks of the exceptional Auslese Long Goldkapsel, a rare collectable that will prove irresistible at maturity. Sweetness is prominent, in the 2018 Goldkapsel releases but by no means excessive. The Prums insisted that this wine derived from virtually botrytis-free albeit desiccated fruit.
Winemaker, Katharina Prum 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.” Goldkapsel wines can work very well with desserts - ideally fruit-based dishes or creme 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. The Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard is now synonymous to the name of Joh. Jos. Prum. The Estate owns healthy five hectares of this majestic site. It offers perfect growing conditions for the Riesling grape with its deep, weather-beaten grey slate soil, good water support, extreme steepness of up to 70 % gradient, and its optimal south-south-west exposure. A fun fact - The two sites Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr are named after the sundial erected in the vineyard in 1842 by Jodocus Prum, an ancestor of J.J. Prum, to give the workers a better time orientation. The wines of the Wehlener Sonnenuhr generally possess excellent structure, show beautiful, ripe aromas and flavours (typically stone fruits, like peach, nectarine, apricot), a fine minerality and great depth and length. Especially after having been aged for some years, the harmony, finesse and expression of these wines are next to none.It is impossible to describe JJ Prum wines without mentioning the German Pradikatswein Wine Classifications that indicates the ripeness level of the Riesling grapes. Auslese wines are made from grapes that have been handpicked according to their ripeness and level of noble rot. The wines are usually sweet and unctuous with great development potential given time in the cellar. Yet the style remains pure and ultra-fine, and while the Spätlese wines shine with juicy intensity, this bracket offers more power, flesh, complexity and length. 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.
