2020 Liliac & Kracher Ice Wine, Transylvania, Romania 375ml

ABOUT THIS WINE

The ultimate aim of Ice Wine is to produce a wine with all the power and sweetness of a Beerenauslese or a Trockenbeerenauslese, but without the influence of botrytis (though occasionally, some botrytis can occur). The 'Liliac & Kracher' Ice Wine is a joint venture between Rudolf Krizan, the winemaker at Liliac in Romania and Gerhard Kracher from the well-known francen Kracher wine family, who have been making sweet wines for generations. Most interestingly, this Ice Wine is made from grapes that were grown in Transylvania, in Romania, in order to find the coldest climate in a warming planet to make this style of wine. The final result is a superb Ice Wine that shows an immense concentration of sweetness and complexity along with a good acid structure. This sweet wine displays delicate notes of white stone fruit, lychee and pineapple, along with a hint of honey on the finish.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Weinlaubenhof Kracher is located southeast of Vienna in Burgenland, a region characterized by gravelly soils with different limestone content transported by the Danube river. The presence of this river together with Lake Neusiedl creates a warm humid climate which is ideal for the formation of noble rot on the grapes produced in the area. Kracher is based in Illmitz, on the border with Hungary, and has been led since 2007 by Gerhard Kracher, son of Alois, with the help of his wife Yvonne: it is the leading winery in Austria for the production of sweet wines. The varieties used are Welschriesling, Chardonnay, Traminer, Scheurebe, Muskat-Ottonel, and in some vintages also Zweigelt. Kracher harvests and vinifies small batches, using a numerical series to distinguish them: a higher number corresponds to a higher sugar concentration in the wine. There are two types of wines produced: Cuvée, sweet wines of medium concentration, Beerenauslese and Eiswein; Kollektion, very concentrated sweet wines produced according to two different methods: Zwischen den Seen (traditional with fermentation in steel or wooden barrels) and Nouvelle Vague (modern with the use of new barriques). WEINLAUBENHOF KRACHER has also started a collaboration with the Liliac Winery in Transylvania, so as to enhance the climatic peculiarities of the Lechinta region which are optimal for the production of Eiswein. Zwischen den Seen (traditional with fermentation in steel or wooden barrels) and Nouvelle Vague (modern with the use of new barriques). WEINLAUBENHOF KRACHER has also started a collaboration with the Liliac Winery in Transylvania, so as to enhance the climatic peculiarities of the Lechinta region which are optimal for the production of Eiswein. Zwischen den Seen (traditional with fermentation in steel or wooden barrels) and Nouvelle Vague (modern with the use of new barriques). WEINLAUBENHOF KRACHER has also started a collaboration with the Liliac Winery in Transylvania, so as to enhance the climatic peculiarities of the Lechinta region which are optimal for the production of Eiswein.