Visiting Kracher, one of the world’s great sweet wine producers, in Austria’s Burgenland region
Website: https://www.kracher.at/
Based in the village of Illmitz, in the Burgenland, Kracher is probably the most famous sweet wine producer in Austria. I visited on a beautiful late April day to taste through the range. It’s a winery that’s well set up for hospitality, and there are two tastings on offer, both of which are reasonably priced.
Kracher have 58 hectares of vines in Illmitz along a strip called the Seewinkel. It’s the proximity to the Neusiedlersee, a shallow water body, that makes this area so suited to sweet wine production. In the autumn, it’s foggy until noon, perfect conditions for the development of botrytis. I remember visiting back in October 2004 and it was pretty damp and rainy, and most of the grapes were still sitting out in the vineyard waiting for ripeness and botrytis under protective bird netting. These are some pictures from the 2004 visit:
It’s second generation Alois Kracher who established the fame of this winery, but he passed at a relatively young age in 2007, and his son Gerhard has taken the reins. The wines are excellent. I visited with Gerhard and also with export manager Johanna Waibel.
The 58 hectares of vines are separated into 92 plots. This sounds like a lot, but the diversity of sites can be a benefit. Even on the sandy plots, the soils are changing all the time: the lake moved back very slowly and left lots of different sediments. ‘It’s a pain in the ass to watch all these plots,’ says Gerhard. ‘But we have all these different soil types and this adds to the complexity.’
70% of production is sweet wines, but they also make some dry wines that are worth checking out.
Some explanation for the sweet wines. There are two lines. Nouvelle Vague is aged in barrique (mostly new), while Zwischen den Seer is stainless steel/inert elevage. Then there’s a number on the label indicating the degree of sweetness.
Kracher Brut Rosé NV Burgenland, Austria
12% alcohol. TBA from 1998 is the dosage. Vintages 15, 18, 19 and 21. Made for them by a producer in Gols who has the equipment. Fresh, lively and bright with nice aromatics, and a fruit-driven palate showing pure, crisp flavours of cherry and pear. Finishes nicely tart. 90/100
Kracher Welschriesling Trocken 2024 Burgenland, Austria
12% alcohol. They have 58 hectares overall, and this grape represents 40% of them. Stainless steel for 5 months. Fresh, linear, grapey and delicious with freshness and focus. Juicy and linear with good acidity, showing precision and detail. 92/100
Kracher Pinot Gris Trocken 2023 Burgenland, Austria
12.5% alcohol. This is textured and aromatic with lovely mandarin, pear and citrus, showing nice depth but also great focus. There’s a lively depth to this wine with some juiciness and nice acidity, as well as lovely rounded fruit. Very expressive and quite delicious. 93/100
Sohm & Kracher St Georg Chardonnay 2022 Burgenland, Austria
14% alcohol. A collaboration between Kracher and Aldo Sohm that started in 2009 with four Grüner Veltliners. They bought this vineyard on the Leithaberg, and found out that a couple of rows were Chardonnay. This is the first vintage of this wine, aged for 2.5 years in big casks. Fresh and savoury with a spicy, mealy edge to the lively citrus fruit. Nice intensity here, carrying the alcohol well. Lovely detail and intensity with a hint of aniseed. 94/100
Kracher K Cuvée 2021 Burgenland, Austria
14% alcohol. Created by Gerhard after his grandfather. Chardonnay, Welschriesling and Scheurebe (30% botrytis). Aged 4.5 years in new French oak. There’s some richness here, with sweet pear, mango and apricot, and then some fresh lemony notes and good acidity. There’s salinity, and also some spicy oak. Real richness allied to freshness. Quite remarkable, and very distinctive. 94/100
Kracher Zweigelt Trocken 2020 Burgenland, Austria
14% alcohol. Aged 2 years in used barrels. Supple and fresh with lovely juicy cherry and strawberry fruit, with some saline notes. Lovely sweetness but also some nice green hints and lovely herbal detail. Very fresh and fine, but with some depth and development. 93/100
Kracher Blend 2 Trocken 2020 Burgenland, Austria
14.5% alcohol. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zweigelt, a third each, aged in a mixture of steel and large casks. Lovely depth to this with some sour cherry and pickle notes offsetting the sweet strawberry and blackberry fruit. There’s some spiciness here with good depth and a bit of evolution. Drinking really well now. 93/100
Kracher Spätlese Rosé 2024 Burgenland, Austria
8.5% alcohol. 90 g/l rs. Normally no botrytis. Blend of Merlot and Zweigelt. Off-dry with nice sweetness under the fresh pear and cherry fruit, with a slight spiciness. Great balance to this wine. 93/100
Kracher Auslese Muscat Ottonel 2024 Burgenland, Austria
10.5% alcohol. Minimum 30% botrytis, 14 months in stainless steel. Highly aromatic. Grapey, rich and complex with some melon and mango notes on the nose. The palate is fresh, showing pure fruit with a touch of apricot and spice from the botrytis. Rich and pure. 94/100
Kracher Auslese Traminer 2022 Burgenland, Austria
10% alcohol. 30% minimum of botrytis aged 12 months in stainless steel. Complex and spicy with nice detail. Has some herb and surprisingly good acidity. Hints of herbs and maybe just a touch of rot here. But there’s a lot to like. 92/100
Kracher Red Roses Rosenmustakeller Beerenauslese 2022 Burgenland, Austria
10.5% alcohol. Thick skinned, but always the first to get botrytis. Minimum of 50% of botrytis, aged 24 months in used barrels. Fruity and floral with strawberries and raspberries, as well as some grapey richness. Fresh on the palate with lovely spicy detail, finishing with a twist of woodiness. Very fine. Real complexity here. 95/100
Kracher Rosenmuskateller Trockenbeerenauslese Nummer 5 Nouvelle Vague 2022 Burgenland, Austria
8% alcohol. 100% botrytis. New oak aged. Complex, spicy and rich on the nose. Rich and spicy with amazing depth and concentration, with notes of apricot, melon and cherry. Really layered and complex with some hints of raisin and tea as well as lovely fruity notes. 96/100
Kracher Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese Nummer 5 Zwischen den Seer 2006 Burgenland, Austria
11% alcohol. Full gold in colour. Rich and complex with a hint of mint as well as vivid melon and apricot fruit, with some raisin. There’s also some black tea as well. Such intensity here, evolving really nicely with lots of complexity. 96/100
Kracher Chardonnay Trockenbeerenauslese Nouvelle Vague Nummer 3 2001 Burgenland, Austria
10.5% alcohol. Golden brown in colour. This is rich and intense with raisin, spice, honey and rich pear fruit, as well as a touch of baked apple. Real intensity and richness, and really harmonious. There’s richness but also freshness, and it’s really complex and utterly delicious. 96/100
