Kracher wines rated by Stephan Reinhardt / Wine Advocate

The focus of the tasting was on the Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines from 2021. The TBA collection consists of six numbered wines. The higher the number, the higher the concentration and residual sugar content.

2021 TBA No. 3 available via Place de Bordeaux

The Trockenbeerenauslese "Grande Cuvée" with the number 3 is available via the Place de Bordeaux retailer network. Stephan Reinhardt has the following to say about this wine: 
"As always, the Grande Cuvée in the middle-TBA No. 3 in 2021, which is now traded via the Place de Bordeaux-represents the most balanced, finessed, rich and complex noble sweet wine of the vintage, and as always, it is an assemblage of Welschriesling and Chardonnay; in 2021, it was in a ratio of two-thirds to one-third, respectively. It is aged for 28 months in small oak barrels, for which the term Nouvelle Vague has stood at Kracher since the unforgotten Alois Kracher Jr."

Wines for the ages

"These are wines for the ages, for which you should wait at least 10 years but preferably 20," writes Stephan Reinhardt about TBA No. 5 Scheurebe and TBA No. 6 Welschriesling, both of which have been matured in steel tanks, as the addition of the name "Zwischen den Seen" (Between the Lakes) reveals. If you don't want to wait ten years to enjoy them, Stephan Reinhardt advises you to start with the less sweet but equally spicy TBAs No. 1 to No. 4, which were matured in barriques and also bear the additional designation "Nouvelle Vague".
He was particularly taken with three TBAs from 1999, which are being re-released after 25 years: "[They] are among the best that the world of sweet wine has in store for hedonists.
The affordable 2021 Beerenauslese wines, whose quality, according to Stephan Reinhardt, is close to that of the noble Trockenbeerenauslese wines, received further praise. And Spätlesen "have rarely been finer and more vibrant than the 2023 cuvées."

Dry wines also inspire

It is no longer a secret that Kracher not only produces sweet wines, but also dry wines. Stephan Reinhardt says of these: 
"Among the dry 2023s, the Welschriesling and Grüner Veltliner impress with their ripe, dense fruit and zesty structure, as does the still unique and seemingly out of time 2019 Cuvée K, which matured for four and a half years in barriques and will be released at the end of the year. Last but not least, the dry Pinot Gris 2022 Reserve is one of the best white wines of this variety - and not just in Austria."
The Grüner Veltliners from the collaboration between Gerhard Kracher and Aldo Sohm, the famous Austrian head sommelier at Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City, were also tasted.

Ratings for the 2021 TBA Kollektion

TBA No. 1 Traminer: 94/100
TBA No. 2 Zweigelt: 95/100
TBA No. 3 Grande Cuvée: 97/100
TBA No. 4 Rosenmuskateller: 96/100
TBA No. 5 Scheurebe: 98/100
TBA No. 6 Welschriesling: 99/100

Ratings for the 1999 TBA Kollektion

1999 TBA No. 2 Traminer: 98/100
1999 TBA No. 3 Chardonnay/Welschriesling: 98/100
1999 TBA No. 6 Grande Cuvée: 99/100

Ratings for the Sohm & Kracher-Releases

2023 Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben: 92/100
2023 Grüner Veltliner Lion: 91/100
2019 Grüner Veltliner St. Georg: 95/100
2019 Grüner Veltliner Single Vineyard: 94/100