Alois Kracher 1955 - 2007

Very sad news. Condolences to the family, and of course to all lovers of his work.

-E

And I got the birth year wrong. Sorry.

M.

Michael, this is an english speaking wine board. The article you posted the link to is not English.

To the gallows with you :-)

Truly a winemaking giant. I can't say I always loved his wines, but I certainly never had one that wasn't clearly made with care, precision, and skill. My condolences to his family and friends.

I, too, am speechless, Michael. I didn't know that he'd been educated as a chemist, making him both the same age as me and the same (initial) occupation. I also didn't know that he'd been seriously ill. Like Dale, I had the utmost respect for his skill, though not all of his wines appealed to me. He will definitely be missed, though.

Mark Lipton

The death of Alois Kracher is indeed bad news. Is there sufficient talent in other family members to carry on in making the outstanding wines that Alois made, will someone else have to be brought in to make the wines, or perhaps the estate will have to be sold? Of course Alois Kracher can not be replaced, but one can hope that a way can be found to at least continue making the outstanding wines that he perfected.

There seems to be a hint of an answer:

M.

Thanks for link.

I understand Erich Salomon also died this week. While not of Kracher's status, also a good winemaker. Tough week for Austrian wine.

You're welcome.

Well, Erich Salomon had retired from day to day activities at age

Alois' passing away, however, is absolutely shocking.

M.

Yes. From the Decanter article I gather that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, which unfortunately still has poor survival statistics. It's a huge loss for the Austrian wine industry certainly, but also for wine lovers worldwide :(

And so it goes... Mark Lipton