2006 TBA #3 Scheurebe ZDS

The pale green-gold color of Kracher’s 2006 #5 Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese Zwischen den Seen is an omen. Seldom has Scheurebe displayed so refined and ethereal an aromatic concentration of herbs and flowers: catnip, thyme, chamomile and borage rather than the more usual sage and its coarsely pungent flower. Buoyant, sleek, and cucumber-cool on the palate, with lemon and white grapefruit balancing its honeyed sweetness, this finishes strikingly long on invigorating, mouth-cleansing refreshment. A joy to drink now on its own, it will be fascinating to follow – and perhaps cautiously apply at the table – over the next 5-6 years. The 2006s were the last wines Alois “Luis” Kracher lived to vinify, and his son Gerhard – who with his grandfather Alois will continue to manage the estate – brought them to completion. Vintages for nobly sweet wine in the Neusiedlersee’s Seewinkel district can generally be divided between those in which botrytis comes early (such as 2005 and – with a vengeance – 2007); those when it is late (like 2004); and those when it comes not at all (which – as witness 2003 – does entirely rule out the production of BA or TBA from shriveled grapes). In 2006, by contrast, there was beautiful botrytis early, late, and in-between, permitting the Krachers to harvest from mid-October to December. The dozen 2006 TBAs bottled here will doubtless be worthily compared to the 15, by now near-legendary, TBAs of 1995 – the first such extended, numbered series, from a vintage in which Alois Kracher found himself confronted with almost nothing but TBA. In 2006, a number of Auslesen were also bottled (a tradition Kracher revived in 2003), most of which were reviewed in issue 177. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700