The Alois Kracher Pinot Gris 2023 is a dry, textural white from Neusiedlersee-Burgenland in Austria, built on ripe pear and savoury lees character rather than fruit sweetness. It is round and gently gripping in the mouth, with a saline edge that keeps it firmly at the table rather than in the fruit bowl.

Pear skin and yellow apple lead the aromatics, with honeydew melon, a touch of dried herb and a flinty, almost smoky note underneath. Extended time on fine lees in stainless steel, with a small portion in used barrels, gives the perfume a subtle bready depth.

2023 was a very warm, dry season in the Seewinkel, and Pinot Gris ripens quickly in those conditions, so picking timing did the heavy lifting here. The result is generous without being heavy: broad, creamy texture from the lees, quiet acidity holding the line, and a light phenolic grip through the back palate that finishes dry, concentrated and faintly salty.

Good with roast chicken and bread sauce, pork belly with apple, smoked trout, mushroom risotto or a washed-rind cheese. The texture also handles mild spice — think a coconut-based curry — better than most dry whites at this weight.

Drinking well now and through to around 2029, with the lees texture likely to broaden and the savoury, flinty side becoming more pronounced over the next few years.