Alois Kracher Jr. (23 February 1959 – 5 December 2007, in

Illmitz Illmitz (; hu, Illmic) is a market town in the district of Neusiedl am See in Burgenland in Austria. It is located in a region to the east of the Lake Neusiedl (German: Neusiedlersee; Hungarian: Fertő tó) which is named the ''Seewinkel'' (lake ...

) was one of the most successful

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

s of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and was known under the nickname "Luis". The wines from his vineyard ''Weinlaubenhof Kracher'' reached a world reputation and high acclaim from international wine critics such as Robert M. Parker, Jr., who awarded 98 points or higher on his famous 100-point scale to several of Kracher's wines. His fame was mainly built on his sweet wines, so called ''

Trockenbeerenauslese ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' (literal meaning: 'dried berry selection') is a German language wine term for a medium to full body dessert wine. ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' is the highest in sugar content in the ''Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian ...

n'' (TBA) of high sweetness and enormous concentration that results from the development of

noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the we ...

on the grapes. Local conditions on the shallow

Lake Neusiedl Lake Neusiedl (german: Neusiedler See), or Fertő ( hu, Fertő (tó); hr, Nežidersko jezero, Niuzaljsko jezero; sl, Nežidersko jezero; sk, Neziderské jazero; cs, Neziderské jezero) is the largest endorheic lake in Central Europe, strad ...

, where the Kracher vineyards are situated, are conducive to the development of ''

Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" o ...

'' (the

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

responsible for

Biography

Kracher first studied chemistry and worked as a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1981 he started working part-time as a winemaker in the winery of his father ''Alois Kracher Senior'' (born 1929), and from 1986 this became a full-time activity for Alois, with focus on sweet wines. He brought fame to the business with his new style of sweet TBAs. Alois Senior continued to work in the vineyards while Alois Junior was in charge of winemaking and overall management. This first vintage to receive broad acclaim was 1991. In 2007, Kracher died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 48 in

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

. He was married and had a son, ''Gerhard Kracher'' (born 1981), who at the time of Alois' death had been working in the family's wine business for a number of years.

Awards and acclaim

Beginning in 1994, he received numerous awards for his wines. Kracher was the recipient of several prizes from various sources for best Austrian wine or winery of the year, sweet wine maker of the year and such, including "Winemaker of the Year" by the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based '' Wine Journal'' six times. He was also active in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

where he and fellow Austrian Manfred Krankl (who runs the

Sine Qua Non ''Sine qua non'' (, ) or ''condicio sine qua non'' (plural: ''condiciones sine quibus non'') is an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient. It was originally a Latin legal term for " conditionwithout which it could not be" ...

winery) produced sweet wines under the label ''Mr. K''. During his lifetime, he was the only Austrian winemaker to receive a straight 100-point score by Robert M. Parker's ''

The Wine Advocate ''The Wine Advocate'', fully known as ''Robert Parker's Wine Advocate'' and informally abbreviated ''TWA'' or ''WA ''or more recently as ''RP'', is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine criti ...

'', although that score was awarded to a Mr. K wine, the 2004 Mr. K The Strawman, a Vin de Paille from Semillon.Wine Advocate #172, August 2007 With Boston-based Spanish importer Jorge Ordóñez, Kracher created a winery in Málaga, Spain, making dry and sweet muscat wines from old hillside vineyards.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Times'', 10 December 2007
*

* Austria.lu
„Alois Kracher is dead“
5. December 2007
Weinlaubenhof Kracher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kracher, Alois 1959 births 2007 deaths Austrian winemakers People from Neusiedl am See District Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Austria