Kracher’s Non-Vintage Noble Reserve TBA

Landscape near Illmitz © ÖWM / WSNA

The best-known Austrian noble sweet wines probably come from Rust and Seewinkel, located east of Lake Neusiedl. The climate prevailing on Lake Neusiedl particularly favors the development of Botrytis, which makes it possible to harvest grapes for Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslese in almost all years. On the east side, the botrytis development is by a variety of

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Willems-Willems’ Euchariusberg Auslese 2018

Viticulture near Krettnach Jacquesverlaeken, CC BY-SA 3.0

The vines for Saar wines thrive on or near the Saar between Serrig and Konz. 80% of the vineyards there are planted with Riesling. We tasted a Riesling Auslese Krettnacher Euchariusberg 2018 from the Willems-Willems winery. A selection of vines that are located a little higher in the side valley of Krettnach and Niedermennig and as a result thrive in cooler locations,

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Furmint Auslese from the Ruster gravel

Vineyards near Rust

Furmint comes from the Tokaj region in northeastern Hungary, known for its sweet Aszú wines called Tokaji. The late ripening of the variety, the loose grapes with their thin-skinned berries and above all the susceptibility to noble rot (botrytis) make the variety very suitable for the production of sweet wines. However, Furmint also delivers first-class, fiery, full-bodied,

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Markus Molitor’s Auslese*** from 2005

Markus Molitor shows how the consistent implementation of quality standards can become a story of success. Since taking over his father’s winery in 1984, he has constantly expanded it, as he has consistently pursued the goal he formulated of building on the golden days of Riesling from the Mosel with wines that are extremely typical of the location and can be stored.

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Diel’s inspiring Riesling Kabinett


I wanted to get quinces from Hans. But of course Hans had a few wines up his sleeve to taste, including a Riesling Kabinett 2021 from Schlossgut Diel. I knew the winery from the dry wines, as it produces Große Gewächse from the three adjacent Große Lagen Pittermännchen, Goldloch and Burgberg. Despite their proximity, these large layers have very different soils. From the ferrous clay soils of the Burgberg interspersed with quartzite to the gold hole on gravelly primary rock soils to the Pittermännchen, where the grapes thrive on weathered slate above Rotliegend.

The winery also produces dry wines from its other sites, but the  noble sweet wines … Read more ...