Alois Kracher Beerenauslese / 2021 / 375mL

Description:

The Alois Kracher Beerenauslese 2021 is a golden, botrytis-driven sweet white from Neusiedlersee in Burgenland, built on Welschriesling and Chardonnay and bottled in a 375mL half. Rich apricot and honey sit over a saline, citrusy line of acidity that keeps the sweetness moving rather than sitting still.

The aroma leads with stewed apricot and candied orange peel, then greengage, white peach and the warm spice that noble rot brings. Behind the fruit there is beeswax and a faint brine, a Seewinkel signature that stops the wine smelling merely sugary.

On the palate the Kracher Beerenauslese is full-bodied and lush without heaviness, the sweetness carried on bright acidity and finishing long with pineapple, mandarin and a caramel-and-salt tang. Texture is the point here: creamy, fine and beautifully clean through the back palate.

Serve it well chilled with apricot tart, crème brûlée or a wedge of blue cheese. It also handles a Thai red curry with real conviction, the sweetness cooling the chilli. A half bottle is the sensible format for dessert wine, pouring four generous glasses for two or three people without the guilt of an open 750mL in the fridge.

Drinking beautifully now and through to around 2036, though bear in mind a half bottle evolves faster than a full-sized one, so this will reach its honeyed, toffee-tinged maturity a touch sooner.