Sohm & Kracher - Gruner Veltliner 2021 (1L)

Aldo Sohm and Gerhard Kracher, two Austrians, first met in New York, in 2004. Their friendship was cemented over a shared devotion to great food and wine. It wasn’t long before they realized this love extended to the dry grüner veltliners of their homeland — and a desire to make them. A few years later, at a tasting, Aldo had an epiphany when he was asked by several winemakers to critique their wines: “I found myself thinking: I have never made wine! Who am I to criticize it?” Over a long lunch later that year, the Sohm & Kracher project was born. Given the strength of the partnership and shared vision, Aldo and Gerhard had little trouble honing their concept: grüner veltliner grown in the Weinviertel — a region they recognized as underestimated, given its old vineyards, diverse soils, and unique microclimate — and made in accordance with two basic principles: the wines should be (low to) moderate in alcohol and should never be unctuous in character. Since their first vintage in 2009 they have kept a sharp focus on grüner veltliner, even as they have widened the scope of exploration across sites and styles — from the brisk, peppery “Lion” to the Chablis-like “St. Georg.” They now work with several crus in the Weinviertel and one pure limestone parcel in the village of St. Georgen, Burgenland, almost directly across the Neusiedlersee from the Kracher family winery in Illmitz.