The brilliantly green-gold 2004 #2 Welschriesling Trockenbeerenauslese Zwischen den Seen shimmers as much on the palate as it does in the glass. A profusion of fresh pineapple backed by apricot, honey, and vanilla is checked in its sweetness by refreshing acidity and subtle quinine bitterness. This beauty possesses a nobility of botrytis – yeasty, truffly, musky, ultimately ineffable – that would have been very much at home in the Rhine basin in 1971. The balance of this wine guarantees that it will not fatigue; its hidden 171 grams of residual sugar suggest that when and if you bring it into direct conjunction with a dessert, it probably won’t wimp out.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

Has a lovely golden color, with an aroma of French toast and flavors of butter, honey and ripe peach. Candied citrus notes chime in on the finish. Drink now through 2025.??–KM??Region: Austria / Burgenland Select to Add