2005 TBA No. 1 Welschriesling

2005 Trockenbeerenauslese No. 1 Welschriesling
Re-released as a 2025 Library Release, Alois Kracher's 2005 Trockenbeerenauslese No 1 Welschriesling Zwischen den Seen displays a lively amber color with lime-green reflections. The nose is savory, precise and fresh, reminiscent of stewed apricots and orange tea as well as lemon rind and pencil tip aromas. Very elegant and seamless in its texture, this is a rich and pretty sweet yet highly finessed and weightless Welschriesling Trockenbeerenauslese with a finely saline and savory finish. I would even keep this pristine 2005 for at least another five years so that the sweetness becomes less obvious, but this is my very personal taste. The wine is doubtlessly superb thanks to its fine texture and immaculate nature. 12% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in Illmitz in June 2025. By Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate

Gorgeously pure apricot – this has a postgraduate degree in apricot studies, with the thesis specialising on the delicate texture of skin and the touch of the tannins in the skin! In short, this is pixilated apricot perfection. If you don’t like apricots … Burnt sugar. There’s a little wild strawberry too. Fascinating. We have, with 20 years of age, also hay bails and coffee beans (oddly) and the rather more expected crème brulée and butterscotch notes. But it’s incredibly pure and very beautiful in that purity. I love the combination of viscosity and freshness – viscosity is so dangerous without it. So intensely saline – the Kracher signature. A timeless wine that it is a pleasure to taste now – and that will still be a pleasure to taste (for someone) long after I have left this mortal coil! 95/100 Colin Hay, The Drinks Business