2001 Alois Kracher Welschriesling TBA #8 ZDS

A rather rainy vintage but masses of botrytis. Nine different Trockenbeerenauslesen (TBAs) produced in 2001. (By comparison, Kracher produced 15 TBAs in 1995 but only one in 2003.) They are numbered in order of sweetness – the higher the number, the sweeter the wine from that vintage. RS 280 g/l. Deep orange with a tawny edge. Prune juice nose. Very, very sweet and round. Almost like a syrup and some piano teacher notes (‘piano teacher’ is my shorthand for a smell of macerated raisins and very slightly musty velours). But then good freshness on the end – though much less acidity than in the Ch de Fargues Sauternes tasted alongside. Big, round and creamy. (JR)