2012 Grande Cuvée TBA No. 6 Nouvelle Vague Weingut Kracher 37,5cl

The 2012 Trockenbeerenauslese No. 6 Grande Cuvée Nouvelle Vague offers a clear, deep, fresh and intense bouquet with stewed apricot and refreshing lemon aromas as well as white pepper notes. On the palate, this is a pure, refined and saline but rich and piquant TBA that has an enormously bitter, fresh and saline finish with great precision and finesse. 9.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022.

The perfume of fully ripe, lusciously juicy peach is nearly overwhelming. It is joined by notions of barley-sugar and candied apricot. There is a more tart notion of passion fruit, too, as well as a guiding, lightning flash of welcome acidity that brings a punch of citrus zest. This TBA is like a very potent flavor bomb that not only delivers luscious sweetness but also a counterpoint of acidic thrill. Needless to say, this simply lingers and lasts. Nectar indeed.

Deep golden amber. Beguiling aromas of apricot preserves, ginger, acacia honey, black pepper, orange zest, candied pineapple and vanilla over a bed of honeyed botrytis. Compact and creamy but refreshingly vibrant, this is one of the spiciest Grand Cuvées I have tasted recently, finishing invigoratingly on candied quince, nougat and butterscotch notes. Reminiscent of Sauternes, but purer, subtler and with only 9.5% alcohol, this Trockenbeerenauslese was harvested in the middle of November. Kracher has scaled back the use of new wood on the No. 6 to allow the wine's complexity to take center stage.

Lush, buttery and creamy, with concentrated flavors of ripe pear, dried mango and roasted pineapple. Features brioche accents midpalate, leading to an unctuous finish of spice and honey. Welschriesling and Chardonnay. Drink now through 2045. 333 cases made. -KM.