Kracher

There are no secrets to the production of Kracher’s unparalleled range of remarkable sweet wines, headlined of course each year by up to a dozen or more trockenbeerenauslese cuvées. For three generations the Kracher family has led the way in the Seewinkel, that corner (winkel) of Austria to the east of Lake Neusiedl, just an hour’s drive from Vienna. It was Alois Kracher Senior, back in the ‘50s and ‘60s who first realised the potential of the area for quality wine growing. Then in 1991, Alois Junior (Luis) set the world on fire with his ‘new’ style of dessert wine, focussing on finesse and balance more than just outright sweetness. From there he went on to win the British Wine Journal’s ‘Winemaker of the Year’ title 5 times, before his untimely passing in 2007.

Luis’ son Gerhard has now been running the estate for a decade and has deftly picked up where his father left off, winning the International Wine Challenge ‘Sweet Winemaker of the Year’ award in 2009. Each year though, the recipe remains the same, driven by a relentless attention to detail. In the vineyard yields are kept incredibly low with each vine limited to just 3 bunches of grapes. In the cellar, each individual parcel is vinified separately, often in lots as small as a hundred litres or so. Malolactic fermentation is avoided to retain the grapes’ high natural acidity and sulphur use is kept to a minimum. Two styles of TBA are produced: Zwischen den Seen (between the lakes), vinified in stainless steel or large oak casks; and Nouvelle Vague (new wave), vinified in French oak barriques.

Alongside the world-famous TBAs, Kracher also makes a vibrant Auslese Cuvée, that is both great value and great drinking, an always brilliant Beerenauslese Cuvée and an exciting new Ice Wine from the hills of Transylvania in Romania. And although sweet wines have long been Kracher’s forte, today its dry wines are earning considerable acclaim, with its Pinot Gris, Welschreisling and Zweigelt gaining an enthusiastic following for quality and outstanding value.

What makes the wines so special?

The Seewinkel is an area in the Burgenland region of eastern Austria, approximately 20 km wide, along the eastern shore of Lake Neusiedl. It is an immense plain, with countless shallow lakes of various sizes scattered throughout it. Most of these lakes, including the largest, Lake Neusiedl, are less than two metres deep. The Pannonian (continental) climate brings hot dry summers and very cold winters and it is these extremes that create a unique climate for viticulture. During cool autumn evenings, evaporation from the numerous lakes creates heavy fog, which covers the area until midday when the still strong sunlight burns through. This helps to create the necessary conditions for the formation of the noble rot, botrytis cinerea, that is the key to the immense concentration, sweetness and complexity of the greatest sweet wines.

Neuburger is a variety native to Austria, but with small plantings in Romania (46ha), mainly in Transylvania. DNA profiling has established that it is a natural crossing of Silvaner and Roter Veltliner (a white variety, despite its name, and no relation to Grüner Veltliner).

Muscat Ottonel was bred in Angers in the Loire Valley in France and is a crossing of the Swiss variety Chasselas and Muscat d'Eisenstadt (itself a Loire variety also known as Muscat de Saumur). It is therefore unrelated to Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains. It's most important role in France is in Alsace where it achieves Grand Cru status, along with Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürzrtraminer. It is much more widely planted however in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, where it is predominantly used for sweet wines, as in this case.

WINE NOTES AND REVIEWS – CURRENT VINTAGES

DRY WHITE WINES

2019 Kracher Pinot Gris
100% Pinot Gris, fermented and matured on fine lees for 18 months in stainless steel tanks and a small portion in used barrels.
‘The generous ripe melon and citrus aromas make this a very appealing dry pinot gris. Quite full body with a satisfying interplay of creaminess, fine tannin and zesty freshness. Just a hint of oak adds some complexity. Matured for 18 months on the less. Drink or hold. Screw cap.’ 91 points, jamessuckling.com, November 2022.
’Aged on the lees for about 18 months and partly in oak, the 2019 Pinot Gris Trocken offers an intense and elegant bouquet with ripe fruit and sur lie aromas intertwined with lovely oaky nuances. Elegant and fresh on the palate, this is a medium-bodied and refined Pinot Gris with a lean, elegant and refreshing body. This wine hides the warm vintage brilliantly on the palate, but it's not unripe either. Excellent to have with fish and white meat. 13% stated alcohol. Screw-cap closure.’ 90 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, September 2022.

2018 Kracher Welschriesling
100% Welschriesling, fermented and matured on fine lees for 14 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘Kracher's 2018 Welschriesling Trocken comes along with moderate 12% alcohol and opens intense and spicy and with all the sun the Burgenland takes benefit of. The honey and ripe, intense yet also fresh and spicy, limey fruit aromas on the nose lead to a charmingly round and fruity, dry, elegant and refreshing palate with ripe acidity and a piquant finish. Pretty intense and with more body than expected from the figures. A serious food wine and obviously with some botrytis.' 89 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, April 2020.

SWEET WINES

2021 Kracher Auslese Zweigelt Cuvée
11% Alc/Vol; 88.8 g/l RS; 5.9 g/l TA. 100% Zweigelt, fermented and matured for 5 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘The ruby-colored 2021 Auslese Zweigelt shows blood orange and lovage notes on the pure and fresh nose. Lush and sweet on the palate, this is an intense, rich and elegant, pure and saline red Zweigelt with fine bitters and lush and aromatic fruit on the finish. 11% stated alcohol. Screw-cap closure.’ 92 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, September 2022.

2020 Kracher Auslese Cuvée
11% Alc/Vol; 85.3 g/l RS; 6.1 g/l TA. 60% Chardonnay and 40% Welschriesling, fermented and matured for 11 months in stainless steel tanks. Medium yellow with green highlights. Aromas of freshly cut quince and fig lead to a lovely, finely textured palate, showing good volume of flavour with a succulent mandarin and passion-fruit edge adding vibrancy. Finishes with excellent length and refreshing acidity. Delightfully elegant and eminently drinkable.
‘Striking nose of smoking caramel in a hot pan. Then, with a little aeration, the turkish-delight aroma expands. Rich kumquat fruit on the moderately sweet palate, the touch of tannin making this taste drier than it really is. Long, structured finish with a delicate, floral-honey note. Drink or hold. Screw cap.’ 93 points, jamessuckling.com, September 2022.

2018 Kracher Beerenauslese Cuvée
10.5% Alc/Vol; 145.7 g/l RS; 7.3 g/l TA. 60% Welschriesling and 40% Chardonnay, 85% fermented and matured for 12 months in stainless steel tanks, 15% in large oak casks.
‘All the dried fruit, brulee character and boldness we expect from a Burgenland BA!. Lush, creamy and concentrated with live-wire acidity that drives the very long, succulent and spicy finish. Drink or hold.’ 94 points, jamessuckling.com, March 2021.

2020 Eiswein (estate fruit, Illmitz) 375ml
9.0% Alc/Vol; 146.2 g/l RS; 8.1 g/l TA. 100% Gruner Veltliner fermented and aged in tank.
Clean and bright, this isn't on the heavy or unctuous side, but it lingers nicely, the finish laced with pineapple and peach nuances. It is pretty delicious, the lifted fruit all the more appealing because the wine is so fresh. As it warms, it shows gentle tension on the finish. The balance makes it easy to drink and hard to resist.
‘Tasted aș a tank sample two months before the scheduled bottling in September this year, the 2020 Eiswein offers an intense and spicy, very fine and elegant bouquet that is still reductive at this stage. Filigreed and nutty on the palate, with notes of hay and herbs and remarkable elegance and finesse, this is a tart and delicately sweet Eiswein to be bottled with about 200 grams of residual sugar. Picked in January 2021 and tasted in July 2022.' (92-93) points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, September 2022.

Ice Wine (Eiswein) is made from grapes frozen on the vine. For best results the grapes need to be hard frozen at temperatures of -8°C or less, which makes waiting for a suitable cold snap very risky. The fruit is hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed while frozen, so that the ice (water) is removed, thus dramatically increasing the concentration of sugars and flavours in the grape. The pressed juice is then fermented and matured for 16 months in stainless steel tanks. The aim with Ice Wine is to produce a wine with all the power and sweetness of a Beerenauslese or a Trockenbeerenauslese, but without the influence of botrytis (though occasionally some botrytis can occur).

2020 Liliac & Kracher Transylvanian Ice Wine 375ml - SOLD OUT
11.0% Alc/Vol; 154.0 g/l RS; 6.9 g/l TA. 100% Fetească Regală, fermented and matured for 4 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘This is a joint venture between Rudolf Krizan, the winemaker at Liliac in Romania, and Gerhard Kracher of Austrian fame. Kracher, indicating that climate change makes it "harder and harder to produce ice wine in the Burgenland," joins Krizan in making a wine in Romania, where, they thought, "this region offers the perfect conditions to produce this kind of wine every single year.”’

Ice Wine (Eiswein) is made from grapes frozen on the vine. For best results the grapes need to be hard frozen at temperatures of -8°C or less, which makes waiting for a suitable cold snap very risky. The fruit is hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed while frozen, so that the ice (water) is removed, thus dramatically increasing the concentration of sugars and flavours in the grape. The pressed juice is then fermented and matured for 16 months in stainless steel tanks. The aim with Ice Wine is to produce a wine with all the power and sweetness of a Beerenauslese or a Trockenbeerenauslese, but without the influence of botrytis (though occasionally some botrytis can occur).

NV Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese Noble Reserve
10.5% Alc/Vol; 194.4 g/l RS; 7.2 g/l TA. 55% Welschriesling, 40% Chardonnay and 5% Traminer, blended from several vintages and matured in seasoned French oak barriques and large oak casks.
‘Aged in large oak and used barriques, the NV Trockenbeerenauslese "Noble Reserve" (LN 9499/14) is based mainly on the 2013 vintage, with smaller portions of the 2012 and 2014 vintages, and blends 55% Welschriesling with 40% Chardonnay and 5% Traminer. The wine has an intense golden-apricot color and offers spicy, well-concentrated and candied pink grapefruit as well as citrus-fresh fruit aromas on the nose that are intermixed with quince, apricot and exotic spicy notes. Lush and fine on the palate, this is a generous, complex and elegant TBA with lovely piquancy and persistent structure. 10.5% alcohol. Drink 2018-2030.' 90 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, February 2018.

2018 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 3 Scheurebe Zwischen den Seen
10.0% Alc/Vol; 188.8 g/l RS; 7.0 g/l TA. 100% Scheurebe, fermented and matured for 28 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘The dense nose is full of pineapple, papaya and mangosteen, pulling you into this rich, concentrated TBA and keeping this big ship on course due south for the tropics. Very long, pure finish. Drink or hold.’ 95 points, jamessuckling.com, March 2021.

2018 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 7 Scheurebe Zwischen den Seen
8.0% Alc/Vol; 234.5 g/l RS; 7.5 g/l TA. 100% Scheurebe, fermented and matured for 28 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘Essence of peach and apricot brulee! Lush and opulent with a ton of creaminess, but also a certain freshness that keeps this giant on the straight and narrow. Built for the long-term and still very young. Should gain in elegance as it matures, but already really imposing. Drinkable now, but better from 2025.' 97 points, jamessuckling.com, March 2021.

2018 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 8 Welschriesling Zwischen den Seen
7.0% Alc/Vol; 271.1 g/l RS; 9.1 g/l TA. 100% Welschriesling, fermented and matured for 28 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘Titanic concentration of tropical-fruit coulis with a surprisingly subtle caramelized-mango note make this giant botrytis wine extremely seductive. Thankfully, the acidity keeps it really bright through the luscious and imposing palate and the very long, dense finish, where it has the brilliance of a great firework display. Drink or hold.' 99 points, jamessuckling.com, March 2021.