2020 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 4 Grande Cuvée Nouvelle Vague

Kracher is the benchmark for superb dessert wines from Austria. Kracher produces a wide range of dessert wines in Burgenland, including near Lake Neusiedl, where spectacular botrytis wines can be made. For three generations, the Kracher family has produced unique wines, recognized by the most prestigious international critics. The British magazine "Wine" has named Kracher "Sweet Winemaker of the Year" nine times, and the German magazine Feinschmecker also named him "Winemaker of the Year" in 2017. Kracher is the first Austrian wine to appear on the "Place de Bordeaux" and is now ranked alongside one of the world's best sweet wines: Kracher TBA "Grande Cuvée" 2020. This wine is the estate's flagship and is a blend of Welschriesling (60%) and Chardonnay (40%). Trockenbeerenauslese, abbreviated TBA, is a quality designation (quality class) for wine. In Germany, it's called Qualitätswein mit Prädikat. This wine is made from grapes affected by the gray mold Botrytis cinerea. Often mistaken for rot by laypeople, this mold is also called noble rot. In German-speaking regions, it's called Edelfäule. In France, this rot is known as pourriture noble.

The Wine Advocate gave 98/100: "The 2020 Trockenbeerenauslese No. 4 Grande Cuvée Nouvelle Vague is based on 70% Welschriesling (vinified in large oak casks) and 30% Chardonnay (aged in barriques) and opens with an intense and concentrated bouquet with spicy quince aromas, lemon chutney, candied lemons, ripe and lush apricots and pineapples, hints of nougat, caramel and salt. It is very deep and complex but also refined, fresh and very elegant! Round, intense and highly refined on the palate, this is a saline and elegant, apparently weightless Grande Cuvée that develops a spectacularly long and intense finish with salts and concentrated fruits such as melons, apricots, lemons, quinces and grapefruit elegance. This is a gorgeous wine, indeed, that is stunning a day after the opening and will need about a decade or more to gain even more complexity..."

James Suckling gave 97/100: “What a complex nose of candied ginger, apricot preserve, dried mango, quince and vanilla. It's balanced and complete, with very well integrated lemony acidity, spice and sweet, dried fruit. There's a lot of structure behind the richness that gives it fantastic aging potential. A cuvee of chardonnay and welschriesling fermented and matured in new oak casks, the chardonnay in barriques and the welschriesling in Slavonian barrels.