The "Weinlaubenhof" of the Kracher family in the municipality of Illmitz is located in the Burgenland wine-growing region of Neusiedlersee (Austria). Alois "Luis" Kracher (1959-2007), who died young, was considered a pioneer of quality-oriented Austrian viticulture and clearly the most internationally renowned Austrian winemaker. In Robert M. Parker's annual " Parker 's Wine Buyer's Guide", he was the only Austrian represented for many years. For not a few experts, Kracher was the best sweet wine producer in the world. The national and international awards are hard to list. Among others, he received the "Len Evans Award" for constant top performance, as well as many awards at the International Wine Challenge (London).
At the latter event, Kracher was named "Winemaker of the Year" a total of five times (1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001). For this reason, he also received the coveted Trophy from the IWC (outstanding performance over five years). In his honour, the "Sweet Wine Trophy" was renamed the "Alois Kracher Trophy" in 2008. The foundation stone for this was laid by Alois Kracher sen. (1929-2010), who recognised the potential of the Seewinkel for quality winegrowing. He took care of the vineyards until the end, knew every vine and the requirements of every plot. Gerhard Kracher is the youngest in the succession of generations and has been responsible for the cellar for quite some time.
The house's absolute speciality are noble sweet Prädikat wines such as Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein, which can be found on the wine lists of thousands of top restaurants worldwide. These account for about 80% of the production. The vineyards cover 20 hectares of vines. They are planted to 85% with the white wine varieties Welschriesling, Chardonnay, Traminer, Scheurebe, Muskat-Ottonel and Versuchsanlagen, and to 15% with the red varieties Zweigelt and Versuchsanlagen. Depending on the vintage, the sweet wines are vinified as single varietals and/or as a cuvée; this varies slightly each year. The grapes are strictly selected with up to eight individual harvests.
They are produced in two lines. Under the designation "Zwischen den Seen" (in the broader sense also a site designation), reductively vinified wines with regional character and rather discreet botrytis tones are produced. They are matured in large wooden barrels of 500 to 3,000 litres and remain in contact with the yeast for a long time. This results in fresh, fruity wines with primary grape aromas. The wines of the second line "Nouvelle Vague" are matured in French barriques with air exchange and correspond to wines of international style with spiciness and sustainability.
Around 100,000 bottles of wine are produced annually, a large part of which is exported. There are a number of innovative joint ventures with producer friends. Together with Alfred Berger and Renato Zapella, "The Vienna Wine Orchestra" produces red wines from purchased grapes. With the Californian winemaker Manfred Krankl, sweet wines are produced in California under the name "Mr. K". Together with Herbert Schmid of the Viennese four-roofed restaurant "Steirereck", the blue cheese "Kracher Grand Cru", matured with a Beerenauslese, was developed and produced by Schärdinger. Furthermore, wine jelly is produced from Beerenauslese wines, as well as a grape marc ribbon and a wine vinegar in cooperation with the Styrian schnapps producer Gölles. In 2007, the largest wine bottle in the world was filled with 480 litres of Trockenbeerenauslese (see under Bottles). The winery is a member of Renommierte Weingüter Burgenland.
