Germany · Mosel

S.A. Prüm

A Bernkastel-Wehlen Mosel estate centred on Riesling, with dry, mineral Blue at estate-wine level and spontaneously fermented Grosses Gewächs matured in traditional Fuder barrels.

The producer

S.A. Prüm has made wine in Bernkastel-Wehlen since Sebastian Alois Prüm founded the winery in 1911, although the family’s vineyard ownership is documented from 1156. Riesling is central, including ungrafted Wehlener Sonnenuhr vines planted in 1905. Blue, the dry VDP.Gutswein, brings the estate’s Mosel focus into a mineral, saline and dry glass.

Hand harvesting on steep slopes keeps vineyard work close to the fruit before it reaches the cellar. For Grosses Gewächs wines, spontaneous fermentation and maturation in traditional Fuder barrels add a separate dry-wine path beside Blue’s estate-wine role. Saskia A. Prüm has owned and led the winery since 1 July 2017, with Kilian Klein as cellarmaster.

Known for

Dry Mosel Riesling, from mineral, saline Blue to spontaneously fermented Grosses Gewächs matured in traditional Fuder barrels.

Notable facts

The story

A change of hands in 2017

On 1 July 2017, Saskia Andrea Prüm took over S.A. Prüm in Bernkastel-Wehlen. Sebastian Alois Prüm had founded the winery in 1911, while records place the family among vineyard owners as early as 1156. Her father, Raimund Prüm, had taken over from his own father in 1971. Saskia’s succession made her the first woman in the Prüm family to own and head a winery. The estate continued to work with Riesling from Mosel sites including Wehlener Sonnenuhr, where its oldest ungrafted vines date to 1905.

From the atlas

S.A. Prüm

At A Glance

The Producer

S.A. Prüm is a Riesling estate in Bernkastel-Wehlen, where the Prüm family had already been recorded as vineyard owners in 1156. Sebastian Alois Prüm founded the winery in 1911, turning that long connection to vines into the present estate. Saskia A. Prüm has owned and headed it since 2017, with Kilian Klein as cellarmaster. The result is a focused Mosel range in which Riesling carries the name of the estate, its vineyard sites and its VDP classifications.

Place

Bernkastel-Wehlen sits in the Mosel, and Wehlener Sonnenuhr is the estate’s key named vineyard reference. Its name comes from the large sundial built in 1842 by Jodocus Prüm, a family ancestor. On a label, Wehlener Sonnenuhr is therefore more than a picturesque phrase: it identifies a vineyard in Wehlen and places the Riesling within a specific part of the Mosel rather than a broad regional blend.

Soil And Site

The physical facts are steep slopes, hand work and old Riesling stock. S.A. Prüm’s oldest vines in Wehlener Sonnenuhr are ungrafted and date to 1905; harvesting on the estate’s steep ground is done by hand. That combination makes selection in the vineyard a practical part of production, while the old Sonnenuhr vines give the estate a concrete link between its current Riesling and a planting that predates the winery’s modern founding.

Story

The family record begins with vineyards in 1156, but the winery itself began in 1911. Raimund Prüm took over from his father in 1971, continuing the estate’s Riesling work in Bernkastel-Wehlen. In 2017, Saskia A. Prüm assumed ownership and leadership. The succession matters in the bottle because the estate remains tied to its Mosel sites while its current cellar team works with both estate-level Riesling and Grosses Gewächs wines from the VDP system.

Vineyards And Cellar

Steep slopes require hand harvesting, so fruit reaches the cellar through a manual selection process rather than a machine pass. For Grosses Gewächs wines, S.A. Prüm uses spontaneous fermentation and traditional Fuder barrels. A Fuder is the large, traditional wooden cask associated with German wine cellars; here it is part of the maturation of the dry top-category wines. Blue occupies a different role as a dry estate Riesling, while the Grosses Gewächs wines receive this documented barrel-cellar treatment.

Wines

The clearest way into the range is through its VDP structure. Blue is a dry Riesling VDP.Gutswein: the estate-wine tier, made to present S.A. Prüm’s house style rather than one named vineyard alone. It is described as mineral and saline, with dryness keeping the wine firmly in the dry Riesling register.

Above that estate-wine level, the range includes Grosses Gewächs wines. These are the wines connected with spontaneous fermentation and maturation in traditional Fuder barrels. S.A. Prüm also distinguishes its own estate wines from the separate Raimund Prüm range, so the producer name and range name on the label are worth noting before assuming two bottles occupy the same place in the portfolio.

In The Glass

Blue is dry Riesling with mineral and saline character at its centre. The dry palate puts those stony, savoury cues ahead of sweetness, while Riesling’s acidity supplies the frame. Expect a wine built around freshness and a saline finish rather than oak weight or broad body. It is a useful contrast to the Fuder-matured Grosses Gewächs wines, whose cellar treatment is part of a different bottle role.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with S.A. Prüm Blue Riesling trocken. It is the estate’s dry VDP.Gutswein and gives a direct view of the producer’s Riesling focus without requiring knowledge of a single vineyard hierarchy. Its mineral, saline, dry profile makes the wine’s shape easy to follow: acidity carries the palate, savoury mineral notes hold the centre, and the finish stays dry. Blue also makes the label logic easier to read before moving into the separate Raimund Prüm range or the estate’s Grosses Gewächs wines.

Anecdote

On 1 July 2017, Saskia Andrea Prüm took over S.A. Prüm. The estate had been founded in 1911 by Sebastian Alois Prüm, and the family’s vineyard ownership was documented as far back as 1156. Raimund Prüm had taken over from his father in 1971; Saskia’s succession came after that earlier handover within the same family line. When she became owner and head of the winery, she became the first woman in the Prüm family to hold both roles. The estate in Bernkastel-Wehlen continued under her name, with Riesling from Mosel sites such as Wehlener Sonnenuhr at the centre of its work.

Final Word

S.A. Prüm is best approached through its dry Mosel Riesling and clear range markers. Blue offers mineral, saline refreshment at estate-wine level; the Grosses Gewächs wines add spontaneous fermentation and Fuder maturation. Behind both sits a Bernkastel-Wehlen family history that reaches from old Sonnenuhr vines to Saskia A. Prüm’s ownership today.

Sources

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