Kracher Auslese Cuvée 2023

Kracher works in the Seewinkel of Burgenland, where the shallow expanse of Lake Neusiedl shapes the growing season. Autumn fog drifting off the warm lake holds humidity in the vines and encourages Botrytis cinerea, the noble rot that pierces the grape skins and dehydrates the berries, concentrating their sugar and acid. The Auslese Cuvée draws on Chardonnay and Welschriesling picked in this state, the Chardonnay lending weight and the Welschriesling its taut acidic spine. After pressing, the wine spends five months in French oak barrels, where slow oxygen exchange through the staves softens the texture and adds a light vanilla and toast frame to the fruit. Fermentation halts with plenty of residual sugar, the sweetness arresting the yeast and holding alcohol near 12 percent. The wine is bright gold. Apricot, honey and white peach lead the nose, with a marmalade lift from the botrytis and a whisper of oak spice. The palate is sweet and rounded yet driven by acidity through a clean finish. Serve chilled at 8 to 10 degrees.