Great wine I can’t afford: Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Johannisbrünnchen Eiswein 2004

Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Johannisbrünnchen Eiswein 2004

I’m filing this in the ‘great wines that I only get to taste, not drink’.

J.J. Prum’s wines can take a few years to come around, but even at 14 years of age this looks ridiculously youthful. Released in 2016, this comes from a low botrytis year, which means more purity and indeed more concentration. But there is also an absolute drinkability here you don’t always see in sweet wines, and a vitality (and natural acidity) that sets it apart. I’d love to see the TA, RS and pH numbers!

Straw yellow coloured, the dominant flavour here is preserved lemon and a twinge of marmalade. It’s dense, but also so clean and so pure, with a waft of toast the only bottle age giveaway, before rivers of that same preserved lemon character. I can’t express clearly just how concentrated this tastes – to the point where you don’t notice sweetness as the first flavour. It’s something surreal, and indeed quite magical.

Unreal wine. Best drinking: Now and likely for decades. It’s perfectly balanced. 19/20, 96/100. 6%, $400. Would I buy it? I can’t afford it. Give me yours.