Aromas of pink grapefruit, honey, and cassis soar from the glass of 2005 #9 Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese Zwischen den Seen. Luscious, palpably thick, and creamy in texture, this variation on Scheu-elixir nevertheless emphasizes the sheer vivacity and vivid freshness of citrus and berry of which the variety is capable. Its 309 grams of residual sugar leave behind considerable sweetness (even with 10.2 grams acidity), yet the palate is left refreshed and eager for the next sip. This is hardly the most complex Kracher T.B.A., but still one of the more striking. Expect it to take on added dimensions with time – and I am sure this will thrive for a quarter century. The inspiring and otherwise irrepressible Alois “Luis” Kracher died last December 5, after a nearly year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. His son Gerhard, 27, and still-active father will continue the work of this exemplary estate. Note: I tasted the Kracher wines of 2005 and 2006 for the reviews above this Spring, and the 2004s in late 2007 and again this Spring. Kracher was restrained in his early judgment of the challenging 2004 vintage, in which he could not start picking noble rot until November, and continued until Christmas. “The first selections were wonderful; the second passage classic, good; the third – kaput,” was how he described it. “From two months of work,” he continued, “we netted 6,000 liters of quality T.B.A.,” from which he promises a modest-sized collection so that – as he puts it – he wouldn’t have to apologize for a vintage that is good but not great. I don’t believe that this was a tactical confession on his part. Kracher was genuinely surprised by the quality that emerged as his 2004 collection evolved, and in the end, he bottled the same number of Trockenbeerenauslesen – ten – as in the manifestly more classic botrytis vintage of 2005.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700