The wine was Oppenheimer Kreuz Gewurztraminer Auslese 1971, Carl Sittman, A.P Nr. 4 387 165 66 72. This is a rather old estate dating back to 1612. The wine won the Silberne Kammer Preismunze, Weinpramuerung 1973 , Landwirtschatleskammer, Rheinland-Pfalz. I bought the wine in the mid 70s for now nearly unbelievable US$ 4.39. It has been stored properly since. The fill was very high, and there were no cork or other issues. The fact that Gewurztraminer from Germany was not well known in the US then likely contributed to the low price, although Germany has long made such wine, much of which is rather average.
The color is now bright gold with hints of old gold. The wine is quite sweet, but has enough acid to balance. It is very much a German style in contrast to the less sweet and more alcoholic style of most late harvest wines from Alsace not far away. It has both intense bouquet and taste. There is none of the petrol character of an old Riesling. It reminds me a bit of a 3P Tokaji Aszu in how it has aged, but without the oxidation apparent in much Tokaji Aszu. In addition, there is an intense spice component which gives meaning to the "gewurz" portion of the grape name. I would not be surprised if a top German Riesling auslese from 1971 had held so well, but I did not expect this wine to be so long lasting when I bought it.
The year 1971 was great for all levels of Riesling in Germany. It would appear that some other grapes also did very well. Although 1959 and 1976 made more very rich late harvest wines, some of their kabinett and spatlese wines were not exceptional in these very hot years. To make a poor wine, especially Riesling, in 1971 required either a very bad winemaker or a very poor and untended vineyard indeed.