2020 Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 4 Grande Cuvee Nouvelle Vague (375ml)

Hailing from the shores of Lake Neusiedl in Austria, the third-generation Kracher family produces here high-quality sweet wines, making the most of the surrounding microclimate, particularly favourable to the development of botrytis. The pinnacle of their production falls under the Kracher Collection, created in 1995 to showcase wines made with different grape varieties and sweetness levels at different stages of botrytis development.

Bright pale gold straw coloured core with gold tinged edges. Engulfing the olfactory senses are intoxicating aromas of honeyed peach and apricot which are trailed by some marmalade, toffee apple and subtle spicy lime notes. Viscous, terrifically intense and lusciously textured, a decadent sweetness on the palate is counterpointed by fresh acidity with honey drenched peach and apricot fruits melding into a back drop pineapple, marmalade and spice. Superb power finishing extraordinarily long and rich.
Drink over the next 8-10 years.
Alc. 10%

Other Reviews…..
The 2020 Trockenbeerenauslese No. 4 Grande Cuvée Nouvelle Vague is based on 70% Welschriesling (vinified in large oak casks) and 30% Chardonnay (aged in barriques) and opens with an intense and concentrated bouquet with spicy quince aromas, lemon chutney, candied lemons, ripe and lush apricots and pineapples, hints of nougat, caramel and salt. It is very deep and complex but also refined, fresh and very elegant! Round, intense and highly refined on the palate, this is a saline and elegant, seemingly weightless Grande Cuvée that develops a spectacularly long and intense finish with salts and concentrated fruits such as melons, apricots, lemons, quinces and grapefruit. The aftertaste is intense and very long but of great finesse and elegance. This is a gorgeous wine, indeed, that is stunning a day after the opening and will need about a decade or more to gain even more complexity. 10% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Drink 2030-2055.
98 points
Stephan Reinhardt – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate

The second release on the Place de Bordeaux, and a stunning wine from Gerhard Kracher in 2020. Beautifully honeyed caramel, lemon, peach and apricot notes on the nose, candied, dried and fresh with salted caramel and biscuit aromas too. Freshness straight away, a scintillating acidity that lifts the expression instantly and gives energy, life and focus. This is sweet no doubt, and you feel the richness in the weight and texture, but it also has this amazing salty, minerality underneath not only giving nuance and complexity but offsetting the sugary, ginger, cinnamon, pineapple and pear mid palate. A wonderfully compelling wine, with so much crystalline purity and ease about it. Defined, focussed, interesting and perfectly balanced. I absolutely adore it! 210g residual sugar. 7.6g/l acidity. Chardonnay fermented in barriques and Welschriesling in large wooden barrels for 30 months. Drink: 2023-2050.
98 points
Georgina Hindle - Decanter

The 2020 Grande Cuvée TBA No. 4 Nouvelle Vague Kollektion is a blend of Chardonnay and Welschriesling. Smooth toffee and caramel come with a note of lemon and banana sliced into a butterscotch sauce. The palate has candied white currant, sultana and clear, bright blossom honey spiced with lemon juice. This is caramelized sweetness but comes on light feet, on little tiptoes of acidity that then explode into fullest flavor. The sultana and lemon aftertaste is endless, with some of the finest rum raisin ice cream notions. (Luscious) Drink 2023-2050.
97 points
Anne Krebiehl – Vinous

What a complex nose of candied ginger, apricot conserve, dried mango, quince and vanilla. It’s balanced and complete, with very well integrated lemony acidity, spice and sweet, dried fruit. There’s a lot of structure behind the richness that gives it fantastic ageing potential. A cuvee of chardonnay and welschriesling fermented and matured in new oak casks, the chardonnay in barriques and the welschriesling in Slavonian barrels. Drink or hold.
97 points
JamesSuckling.com