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.

SWEET WINES

2022 Kracher Auslese Zweigelt Cuvée
10% Alc/Vol; 90.3 g/l RS; 6.4 g/l TA. 100% Zweigelt, fermented and matured for 5 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘The dark, intense, salmon colored 2022 Auslese Zweigelt opens with an intense yet refined, elegant, floral bouquet of rose petals, mocha and candied plums intermingled with lemon zest aromas. Vital and fresh on the palate, this is a vivacious, vibrantly fresh and stimulating, finely saline and moderately sweet Auslese with generous but elegant fruit. Natural cork.’ 91 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2023.

2023 Kracher Auslese Cuvée
10% Alc/Vol; 108.9 g/l RS; 6.5 g/l TA. 60% Chardonnay and 40% Welschriesling, fermented and matured for 8 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.
‘From a very warm vintage, the radiant, golden-yellow 2023 Auslese Cuvée blends Welschriesling with Chardonnay and opens with a concentrated yet delicate and savory bouquet of apricots, white chocolate, salty caramel and lemon chutney. On the palate, this is a smooth and savory, intense and well-structured Auslese with remarkable finesse and a salivating finish. The wine reveals fine botrytis notes that add textural complexity. The finish is precise and saline. 9.5% stated alcohol. Screw-cap closure.’ 92 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2025.

2021 Kracher Beerenauslese Cuvée
11.0% Alc/Vol; 136.2 g/l RS; 7.2 g/l TA. 60% Welschriesling and 40% Chardonnay, 90% fermented and matured in stainless steel tanks, 10% in large oak casks for 28 months ageing.
Beerenauslese Cuvée is our most important and famous wine, served by the glass with dessert in many top restaurants around the world because of its harmony and complexity.Chardonnay and Welschriesling are perfect partners in this wine and complement each other. The Chardonnay brings power, milk caramel and citrus aromas. The Welschriesling the elegance with quince and apricot on the nose and white peach on the palate. This combination gives an incomparable harmony, rounded by herbal spice and saltiness from our soils in the finish.
‘The 2021 Beerenauslese Cuvée opens with a clear, fresh and finely honeyed bouquet of dried and stewed apricots and fresh apricot skins, greengage plum and saline notes. Full-bodied, lush and refined on the palate, this is a rich yet elegant and fresh BA based on Chardonnay and Welschriesling. Pineapple aromas populate the finish that pairs fine tannins and a caramelly salinity that is so typical for wines from the Seewinkel. To be released in September this year. 11% stated alcohol.’ 94 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, May 2024.

2021 Kracher Beerenauslese Red Roses
11.0% Alc/Vol; 157.4 g/l RS; 5.8 g/l TA. 100% Rosenmuskateller, fermented and matured in large oak casks for 24 months ageing.
Intense Rose aroma, rose oil, rose water, strong strawberry aroma, red berries and citrus notes give the wine a fresh fine muscat note, very subtle tannins give the wines character.
‘The 2021 Beerenauslese Rosenmuskateller Red Roses is analytically a downgraded Trockenbeerenauslese that opens with a clear and fragrant bouquet of kumquats, pink grapefruits, plums and flowers (rose petals). Rich and sweet on the palate, this is a dense and savory, almost oily-textured BA with fine tannins and lemony aromas on the finish. It's quite sweet, though (234 grams per liter of residual sugar). 9.5% stated alcohol.’ 93 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, May 2024.

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).

2023 Liliac & Kracher Transylvanian Ice Wine 375ml
10.0% Alc/Vol; 189.0 g/l RS; 7.57 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.

due 2026

The upcoming 2022 vintage is another outstanding vintage, especially for Trockenbeerenauslese, if not in terms of quantity, then certainly in terms of quality. The rain at the beginning of October caused a happy botrytis, which went perfectly due to the subsequent sunshine that allowed the berries to dry out quickly. In total, the five TBAs were harvested in three selections between the beginning of October and the end of November. Highlights are the Welschriesling TBA No 2, the Grande Cuvée TBA No 3 and the Rosenmuskateller TBA No 5.
Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2025.

2022 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 1 Zweigelt Nouvelle Vague
10.0% Alc/Vol; 173.4 g/l RS; 7.1 g/l TA. 100% Zweigelt, fermented and matured for 24 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘The crimson-colored 2022 Trockenbeerenauslese No 1 Zweigelt Nouvelle Vague is deep, intense and refined on the nose that is still a little untamed but shows fresh red berry and floral aromas intermingled with saline notes. The wine is rich and intense, remarkably concentrated and reveals sustainable salinity and mineral tension on the long and complex, vital finish that also reveals fine but structuring tannins, which make this TBA an excellent wine to pair with food, especially after 10 to 20 years. 10% stated alcohol. Natural cork.' 96 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2025.

2022 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 2 Welschriesling Zwischen den Seen
10.5% Alc/Vol; 176.9 g/l RS; 5.9 g/l TA. 100% Welschriesling, fermented and matured for 26 months in stainless steel tanks.
‘Vinified in stainless steel, the golden-yellow 2022 Trockenbeerenauslese No 2 Welschriesling Zwischen den Seen is superbly precise and concentrated on the nose that displays perfectly ripe, yellow botrytis fruit with beautiful lemon nuances intermingled with saline and herbal tea notes. The wine is rich but highly finessed and elegant on the palate, beautifully balanced and mouthfilling, Savory as it is, the wine develops a subtle intensity without power or overconcentration. It is full of finesse and brightness yet also this characteristic salinity that makes Kracher's wines so irresistible. This is a fabulous, very sustainable and gastronomic TBA that no wine lover would want to put down the glass. In any case, the drinking speed is likely to be quite high, and the finish is the longest of the 2022 collection. 10.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork.' 98 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2025.

2022 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 3 Grande Cuvee Nouvelle Vague
10.0% Alc/Vol; 181.7 g/l RS; 6.2 g/l TA. 60% Chardonnay + 40% Welschriesling, fermented and matured for 28 months in barrique (Chardonnay) and large 1000L oak casks (Welschriesling).
‘The 2022 Trockenbeerenauslese No 3 Grande Cuvée Nouvelle Vague is a deep, complex,very elegant and refined, saline blend of Welschriesling and Chardonnay vinified in barriques for 30 months. Lemon zest and chutney aromas intermingle with oak, vanilla and bright toast aromas. The wine is generous and rich yet highly refined and elegant on the palate, provided with concentrated and sweet fruit, very fine tannins and this saline and crystalline acidity that is so delicate that it takes this sweet wine on its wings toward heaven. Due to its balance, this is an irresistible though pretty sweet TBA that I would thus cellar for another decade to benefit from all its complexity without being detracted from its now prominent sweetness. 10% stated alcohol. Natural cork.' 98 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2025.

2022 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 5 Rosenmuskateller Nouvelle Vague
8.0% Alc/Vol; 261 g/l RS; 7.5 g/l TA. 100% Rosenmuskateller, fermented and matured for 24 months in barrique.
‘The fire-red brick-colored 2022 Trockenbeerenauslese No 5 Rosenmuskateller Nouvelle Vague is a beautiful rarity that intermingles very fine oak, toast and nougat aromas with notes of candied cherries, red berries, flowers, nutmeg and pencil shavings. On the palate, this is a generously sweet but refined and elegant, almost weightless TBA whose richness is enormous but uplifted by salinity, delicate acidity and filigreed tannins. The finish is very long and savory and promises great aging capacity. This is the sweetest TBA of the vintage, but it‘s never clumsy or saturating. We just need to give it time. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork.' 97+ points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, June 2025.