Wehlen Riesling estate making delicate, restrained-sweetness wines from named Mosel vineyards.
The producer
Joh. Jos. Prüm is a Wehlen family estate founded by Johann Josef Prüm in 1911 after the S.A. Prüm winery was split. Its vineyards include Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich, Bernkasteler Lay, Bernkasteler Badstube and Zeltinger Sonnenuhr. The estate grows only Riesling, with seventy percent of its vines ungrafted. The wines are known for delicacy, restrained sweetness, yeasty fermentative aromas in youth and tingling carbonation.
Known for
Named vineyard Riesling
Notable facts
The Prüm family has had a presence in Wehlen for over 400 years.
The estate holds 14 hectares across five named vineyard sites.
Only Riesling is grown and harvested.
Seventy percent of the vines are ungrafted.
The story
The 1911 Family Split
The Prüm family had been present in Wehlen for over 400 years when Johann Josef Prüm founded the estate in 1911. The new estate followed the splitting up of the S.A. Prüm winery. Sebastian Prüm died in 1969, and his sons, Dr Manfred Prüm and his younger brother Wolfgang Prüm, took over. Manfred later worked with his daughter, Dr Katharina Prüm, who has been involved with the estate since 2003. The holdings include Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Graacher Himmelreich.
From the atlas
Joh. Jos. Prüm
Wehlen estate devoted to Riesling from named vineyard sites and several German ripeness levels.
At A Glance
Region
Mosel, Germany
Village
Wehlen
Main grape
Riesling
Signature wine
Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese
Defining feature
Vineyard wines from named sites
The Producer
Johann Josef Prüm founded the estate in 1911 after the splitting up of the S.A. Prüm winery. The Prüm family had already been present in Wehlen for over 400 years. After Sebastian Prüm died in 1969, his sons Dr Manfred Prüm and Wolfgang Prüm took over. Manfred's daughter, Dr Katharina Prüm, has been involved with the estate since 2003.
Only Riesling is grown and harvested. Seventy percent of the vines are ungrafted, leaving the estate with a single grape and a clear focus on vineyard differences.
Place
The holdings include Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich, Bernkasteler Lay, Bernkasteler Badstube and Zeltinger Sonnenuhr. These named vineyard sites appear across different ripeness levels, including Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese. The vineyard name and the harvest ripeness both appear in the range's bottle names.
Wines
The range is made entirely from Riesling and is organized by vineyard and ripeness level. Wehlener Sonnenuhr appears as Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese, while Graacher Himmelreich appears as Kabinett and Spätlese. Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese mark increasing levels of grape ripeness at harvest. The wines are known for delicacy and restrained sweetness, with young bottles often showing yeasty, fermentative aromas and tingling carbonation.
In The Glass
Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett shows brilliant exotic fruit, fresh clarity, slate minerality and beautiful acidity. The Spätlese from the same vineyard is floral and fruity, with pear, ripe yellow apple and slate. Graacher Himmelreich moves toward citrus, pronounced crushed rock minerality and racy acidity that leaves the palate mouth watering.
A Bottle To Understand It
Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese is the first bottle. It is Riesling from the named Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard, with the Spätlese category marking a later harvest ripeness than Kabinett. The 2020 bottling has quince and incipient apricot with outstanding length and depth. The label carries the vineyard name and the ripeness category together.
Final Word
Joh. Jos. Prüm keeps one grape at the centre of a range divided by named vineyards and German ripeness categories. Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Graacher Himmelreich carry the estate's vineyard distinctions into the bottle.