For most wine lovers, and certainly for the adepts of noble sweet wines, the name Kracher is a household name. For three generations, the Kracher wine estate has stood for the best sweet wines that Austria has to offer.
The wine estate is located in the Seewinkel area in the Burgenland wine region. Close to the shores of Lake Nuesiedl, the vineyards are blessed with the warm Pannonhalma climate, a consistently high humidity and frequent evening fog. The ideal breeding ground for Botrytis, and the basis for the estate's many noble sweet wines.
History of the wine estate
Kracher winery was founded by the grandfather of the current winemaker. Aloïs was one of the pioneers of the region. He was one of the first to recognize the potential of making noble sweet wines in Seewinkel, long before it became commonplace.
Aloïs was succeeded by Aloïs Junior, aka Luis. Luis is the one who gave the wine estate the world fame it has today. He focused on making a new style of sweet wines; where the character of the grape, finesse and elegance were brought to the fore. Luis was also one of the driving forces behind the ‘Austrian Wine Miracle’ of the 1990s and also the driving force behind the renaissance of noble rot wines.
Since 2007, the wine estate has been led by the current winemaker, Gerhard Kracher. However, he has worked side by side with his father since 2001. Big shoes had to be filled after Luis' sudden death; and Gerhard succeeds with verve.
The vineyards
The Kracher vineyards stretch from the shores of Lake Neusiedl to Illmitz, where the winery is located. To the untrained eye, one large plain, although the winemaker will point out the various elevations in the landscape that influence the quality of the grapes.
It is planted in high density, to ensure that the plants are under ‘stress’ and thus produce fewer but higher quality grapes. The planted varieties are mainly: welshriesling, traminer, chardonnay, pinot gris, scheurebe, zweigelt,…
The wines of Kracher
As mentioned, the wine estate is world famous for its noble sweet wines. There is also a small production of dry white and red wines, which are also of the highest level in terms of quality and purity.