Joh. Jos. Prüm and Wehlener Sonnenuhr

The Prüm family's roots in the Mosel stretch back to at least the early 12th century, with documented presence in Wehlen for over 400 years. The estate as it exists today was born in 1911 when Johann Josef Prüm inherited his share after the division of the original family holdings. His son Sebastian joined the estate in 1920 and over the following decades forged the distinctive Prüm house style, characterized by restrained sweetness, vivid acidity, and exceptional longevity. After Sebastian's death in 1969, his son Dr. Manfred Prüm took over and raised the estate's international reputation to new heights, earning the title of German Winemaker of the Year from Gault Millau in 1996. Since 2003, Manfred has worked alongside his daughter Dr. Katharina Prüm, who today oversees the estate's day-to-day management. The estate is a founding member of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter), Germany's top association of quality wine producers.

• Founded 1911 by Johann Josef Prüm after division of the family S.A. Prüm estate.
• Sebastian Prüm defined the house style during the 1930s and 1940s; he ran the estate until his death in 1969.
• Dr. Manfred Prüm was named German Winemaker of the Year by Gault Millau in 1996.
• Dr. Katharina Prüm, the fourth generation, has been active alongside her father since 2003 and now leads the estate.

The Wehlener Sonnenuhr ('sundial of Wehlen') is one of the most celebrated vineyard sites on earth. The name derives from a sundial painted directly onto a face of Devonian slate by Jodocus Prüm in 1842, a purely pragmatic gesture that gave the workers in the steep hillside vineyards a way to track the time of day. The sundial famously omits the number 7, because at seven in the morning and evening the face is no longer reached by direct sunlight and so the hour was simply left off. The Wehlener Sonnenuhr replaced the former site name 'Lammerterlay' around the turn of the 20th century and was officially recognized as a vineyard designation in August 1913. Today the registered site covers approximately 40 hectares on the right bank of the Mosel, directly opposite the village of Wehlen, and is classified as a VDP.Grosse Lage, Germany's highest vineyard category. Riesling accounts for over 99 percent of plantings, mostly trained on individual posts in the traditional single-pole system.

• Sundial constructed in 1842 by Jodocus Prüm; officially became the vineyard's name in August 1913.
• Located on the right bank of the Mosel at 110 to 195 meters above sea level, facing south to southwest.
• Slopes reach 65 to 70 percent gradient in places, making mechanization impossible.
• Classified VDP.Grosse Lage; over 99 percent planted to Riesling trained on individual posts.

The soils of Wehlener Sonnenuhr are among the most distinctive in the wine world. The bedrock is ancient Devonian slate, formed over 350 million years ago, and in the steepest sections the vines grow almost directly out of pure slate rock with minimal topsoil. This pure, weathered grey-to-blue slate provides outstanding drainage and, crucially, absorbs the sun's heat during the day and radiates it back to the vines overnight, a critical advantage at this northerly latitude. The Wehlener Sonnenuhr has the highest pure stone content of all Prüm's vineyards, giving the wines their signature stony minerality. The Mosel river also plays an important role, reflecting sunlight back up onto the steep slopes and moderating temperatures, which extends the growing season and allows the Riesling grapes to ripen very slowly and evenly. This combination of steep exposure, heat-retaining slate, and the moderating influence of the river produces wines of remarkable depth and tension.

• Soils are ancient Devonian slate, providing drainage and thermal retention; some parcels have almost no topsoil.
• South-southwest exposure and the Mosel's reflective surface maximize sunlight and extend the ripening season.
• Slate radiates heat overnight, protecting against frost and ensuring even ripening in cooler vintages.
• The Wehlener Sonnenuhr has the highest stone content of all J.J. Prüm vineyards, underpinning the wines' famous minerality.

Viticulture at J.J. Prüm is defined by a profound conservatism that is inseparable from the estate's quality. Approximately 90 percent of the vines are own-rooted (ungrafted), a remarkable figure that reflects the survival of pre-phylloxera vine material and the physical difficulty of replanting on such extreme slopes. Vine age averages over 60 years across the estate, with key parcels between 70 and 100 years or more. These old, ungrafted vines naturally produce tiny yields of intensely flavored fruit. Harvesting is entirely by hand, and picking dates are chosen with exceptional precision, with each parcel picked only when perfectly ripe. Multiple passes through the vineyard (Traubenselektion) are standard at Auslese level and above, with pickers selecting only the ripest and most nobly rotted bunches or individual berries. Farming is non-irrigated and effectively organic, though the estate does not hold a formal organic certification.

• Approximately 90 percent of vines are ungrafted (own-rooted), averaging over 60 years of age.
• Some parcels contain vines between 70 and 100 years old, naturally restricting yields.
• All harvesting is by hand, with multiple selective passes for Auslese and higher Prädikats.
• Farming is non-irrigated and effectively organic, though the estate is not certified organic.

The winemaking at J.J. Prüm is as traditional as the viticulture. Fermentation is entirely spontaneous, using only indigenous yeasts, which gives the young wines a characteristic yeasty, reductive aroma that can include a 'struck-match' note. This is often misidentified as a fault by those unfamiliar with the house style but resolves beautifully with bottle age. After fermentation, the wines are matured on their lees in large traditional oak casks called Fuder (roughly 1,000-liter capacity), where they develop slowly before bottling. Dr. Manfred Prüm has been openly disinterested in dry wine styles; the estate produces the full range of Prädikats from Kabinett through to TBA and Eiswein, all retaining natural residual sweetness. The Goldkapsel (gold capsule) bottlings, produced only in suitable years, represent a stricter selection of more concentrated or botrytized fruit with greater aging potential than the standard white-label releases. The estate does not publish technical data sheets for its wines.

• Fermentation is entirely spontaneous with indigenous yeasts; young wines often show a 'struck-match' reductive aroma that resolves with age.
• Wines are matured on lees in large traditional Fuder oak casks before bottling.
• Full Prädikat range produced: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, BA, Eiswein, and TBA; all styles retain natural residual sweetness.
• Goldkapsel (and Lange Goldkapsel) bottlings are released only in select years, indicating stricter selection, higher concentration, and greater aging potential.

Perhaps no other German estate commands the same reputation for extraordinary longevity as J.J. Prüm. The Prüms themselves prefer not to open their own wines, even basic Kabinetts, with less than a decade of bottle age. The combination of naturally high acidity, residual sweetness, and the low-intervention winemaking style allows the wines to evolve over astonishing timescales: great Spätlese and Auslese from benchmark vintages can still be developing at 30 to 50 years of age, while TBA and BA bottlings may outlast most of the people who buy them. Wines from the celebrated 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s are reportedly still in excellent condition. At auction, Prüm's rarest bottlings command significant prices; in one recorded sale, 12 bottles of the 1983 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Goldkapsel sold for $2,450, and lots of the 1959 TBA have reached $15,925 for three bottles. The estate's TBA from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr has ranked among the most expensive German wines sold at auction.

• Even Kabinett-level wines reward 10 or more years of cellaring; the Prüms recommend this minimum before opening.
• Auslese Goldkapsel and higher Prädikats can evolve for 30 to 50 or more years in good conditions.
• Wines from the 1930s through 1950s are reported as still excellent, demonstrating generational aging ability.
• Auction records include $15,925 for three bottles of 1959 Wehlener Sonnenuhr TBA at La Paulée.